tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44913161854850087482018-02-21T09:26:06.188-05:00The Peverett PhilePeverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.comBlogger1079125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-20875023586135853712018-02-19T13:33:00.001-05:002018-02-19T13:33:24.900-05:00Pheaturing Bruce Thomas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K8F7CYKyrMc/Wor2mDQE1oI/AAAAAAAAyl0/bLCXDZtTDJI2pi8YTFFmcBgzVOAEY2u7QCLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K8F7CYKyrMc/Wor2mDQE1oI/AAAAAAAAyl0/bLCXDZtTDJI2pi8YTFFmcBgzVOAEY2u7QCLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hey</b> kids, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. How are you doing? Happy Presidents Day, everyone! Let's celebrate Presidents Day with the reckless abandon of a local appliance store. Happy Presidents Day to someone I can't believe is president of something. Do you think Trump reads the Phile?<br /><b>It's</b> reasonable to assume that most, let's say 98% of the population understands that paramedics are hardworking people who set out to save lives daily. Despite the obviousness of this statement, there is still a stubborn 2% of the population who would rather place their temporary comfort over people's actual lives. Yesterday morning a crew of paramedics from the West Midlands Ambulance Service in the U.K. were greeted with a rude message from a neighbor of their emergency caller. The angry note was left on the ambulance while the paramedics were busy responding to the emergency call. Naturally, they felt both baffled and frustrated by the lack of consideration for the existential nature of their job. The alarmingly selfish note reads, "If this van is for anyone but number 14 then you have no right to be parked here. I couldn't give a shit if the whole street collapsed. Now move your van from outside my house!" Apparently, the rude neighbor not only left the mega grumpy note, but berated the paramedics with verbal abuse as well. Several other emergency responders posted their solidarity with the workers on Twitter. While others on Twitter chimed in to say how much they appreciate emergency responders and the crucial work they do. Hopefully everyone on the scene came home to a hot pot of tea and a spread of delicious biscuits, because being rude to emergency responders is absolute nonsense.<br /><b>A</b> Carnival cruise turned into a true vision of violent hell during its 10 day voyage in the South Pacific, when a series of brawls broke out and transformed the vacation into a vision of unchecked brutality. The Carnival legend eventually booted a large family group off the cruise, and placed them in a smaller boat before docking in Australia on Saturday. While it's still unclear if there was a precise moment triggered the brawling, several of the passengers said the large family arrive on the cruise ship looking for trouble. Fellow passenger Kellie Peterson told 3AW, &nbsp;“They were looking for trouble from the minute they got on the ship. My husband said to take it away, because there’s kids here, and five of them surrounded my husband. They told us to watch our backs." Another passenger noted a confrontation that blew up after they accidentally stepped on someone's show. "This is all over a thong (flip-flop sandal)... not a foot, a thong being stepped on," another passenger told 3AW. After the passenger who stepped on the thong apologized, the owner of the shoe started to feud. A few of the outbreaks of violence have been captured on camera and surfaced online. According to Peterson, the violence got so bad many passengers chose to stay in their rooms because they feared confrontation from the unruly guests. "Fights have been going on for a few days now. We're scared. We've been told to watch our backs by this group so we're scared to go anywhere alone in the ship. We can't wait to get off," Peterson told radio station 3AW. To make matters worse, the security crew on the ship did not handle the situation well. As evidenced in the videos, there were several reported instances of security getting in on the violence. Passenger Michael Haddara told "The Herald" that security guards waved broken bottles at passengers as an intimidation tactic, and "put handcuffs around their hands, as knuckle dusters." As evidenced in the videos, several security staff members also attempted to confiscate video footage of the violence. “The actions seen on the video by our security team are not in line with our Carnival values and policies. We are conducting a full investigation and will take appropriate corrective action as necessary," a spokeswoman said in a statement. The cruise line offered all guests aboard a 25% credit to make up for the issues, barring, of course, the 23 violent guests that were kicked off the boat. "We sincerely regret that the unruly conduct and actions of the passengers removed from the ship in Australia may have prevented our guests from fully enjoying their cruise," Carnival said in a statement.<br /><b>In </b>a recent edition in their Chart of the Week feature, Visual Capitalist released a fascinating map of every state’s biggest employer. While a lot of the data isn’t exactly mind-blowing (MGM is number one in Nevada, for example), what is surprising is Walmart’s absolute domination. While Amazon may rule supreme in online sales, the brick-and-mortar retail chain is America’s biggest private employer in almost half of the states (22, to be exact). Walmart current employees around 1.5 million people in the U.S. By comparison, Amazon has a little over 500,000 workers. As you might be able to see con the map, state universities make up the majority of the remaining areas in the country.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h6uoM8NIwdU/Wor9d3TlVoI/AAAAAAAAymc/Z-R1ML1Mx0ABRvzHhFdd5RRptT5IR333wCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a5a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h6uoM8NIwdU/Wor9d3TlVoI/AAAAAAAAymc/Z-R1ML1Mx0ABRvzHhFdd5RRptT5IR333wCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_a5a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />The data, compiled from 24/7 Wall Street, excludes public administrative bodies, like state governments.<br /><b>It's</b> 2018, so that must mean that sexism is finally over, right? Yay! Wait, no. No it's not. On Wednesday, Barcelona resident Carla Forcada shared this sexist response she received from a hiring manager after applying for a job as an account executive at PR agency called Impulsa Comunicación. &nbsp; "Hi Carla Thanks for sending your CV... We are currently in the selection process but we are looking for a guy because the role requires to work with accounts such as Carglass and Coca-Cola… and believe me, they need a man to be able to deal with the day to day, the visits, knowledge of production, etc. But we will keep your professional history at hand in case we need any future help. Thanks and good luck!" Ah yes, I forgot that <i>only men</i> know the ins-and-outs of Coca-Cola. Forcada uploaded the screenshot of the email alongside a caption that read, "Unbelievable that there are still companies that do not support gender equality in the work environment." Several men commented on the post, saying that maybe they wanted a man for the job because it requires hard physical labor. Forcada corrected each one by reminding them that she applied for a job in communication and advertising, and no physical labor would be required. Nice try though, random dudes. Coca-Cola Spain soon caught wind of the offensive email, and issued this statement on their official Twitter account. "The Coca-Cola company does not work with Impulse Communication and rejects such discriminatory responses. We have an inclusive, diverse and egalitarian recruitment policy. We regret to see our name related to this discriminatory and unfortunate response." Carglass, the other company mentioned in the email, replied to Forcada's Tweet with this response, "Hello @forcada_carla we want to personally apologize to you and all the people who are offended by this message, NOSOTR is [offended] as well. We have already expressed our position to Impulse Communication. Our company promotes gender equality and acts like this do not represent us." Pere Terés, director of Impulsa Comunicación, later told ABC that he apologized for Forcada on behalf of his company: "Apologies for the misunderstanding, I have personally spoken to this candidate," he said. "We have invited her in. We are a company of transparency with parity, but in no way is it acceptable under any circumstance for there to be any type of discrimination." Yeah, I have a feeling that Carla may think twice before accepting any offer from a company who thinks Carglass is too inherently masculine for her lady-brain to handle. Thanks, though.<br /><b>Radio</b> personality Patrick Connor was fired from his gig at San Francisco radio station KNBR after making crude comments about 17-year-old snowboarder, Chloe Kim. Kim won the gold medal in the women's halfpipe for team U.S.A. at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang on Tuesday. Connor, who hosted a show called "The Shower Hour," made offensive comments about the Olympian while on Barstool Radio’s Sirius XM channel's new show, "Dialed-In," hosted by former MLB pitcher Dallas Braden. "She’s fine as hell! If she was 18, you wouldn’t be ashamed to say that she’s a little hot piece of ass," said Connor on the air. "And she is. She is adorable. I’m a huge Chloe Kim fan." Well, maybe you should be ashamed to say that. Connor had also said, "No doubt, and in fact just to keep it on that tip, her 18th birthday is April 23rd, and the countdown is on baby, ’cause I got my Wooderson going." He them quoted <i>Dazed and Confused</i>, adding, "'That’s what I like about them high school girls.'" KNBR program director Jeremiah Crowe told "The Mercury News" that they have severed ties with Connor in the following statement. "Be advised that Patrick Connor is no longer with Cumulus Media. Neither KNBR, nor Cumulus Media condone the comments made by Patrick Connor on his SiriusXM program." On Wednesday, Patrick Connor took to Twitter to apologize for his comments. Although it did take the radio personality over a day to realize his words may be perceived as harmful. According to The Huffington Post, Connor is still employed by Barstool Sports, which sounds about right.<br /><b>They</b> <i>are</i> Olympians worth watching the games for because they are so attractive... like Lindsay Vonn, Alpine ski racer...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cyDoP7wKxDw/WosBqERS6dI/AAAAAAAAymo/4ZrXtmmwfVortpBDR_Wk-fumSYpev6GIACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a5d.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="473" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cyDoP7wKxDw/WosBqERS6dI/AAAAAAAAymo/4ZrXtmmwfVortpBDR_Wk-fumSYpev6GIACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_a5d.jpeg" width="326" /></a></div><br />See what I mean? Do you have tattoos? I have four... and thinking of getting a few others. One idea I kinda had someone else had the same idea...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3Epa3AyJRNc/WosCgpY-JQI/AAAAAAAAymw/_h4EaIkxINQCq3JID2VFnRpKcKWiQ6B4gCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9f.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="550" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3Epa3AyJRNc/WosCgpY-JQI/AAAAAAAAymw/_h4EaIkxINQCq3JID2VFnRpKcKWiQ6B4gCLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_9f.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><br />Actually, I would never get that tattoo. So, do you know the game Connect 4? Well, there's a brand new version of it out...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AzCif5-N9ng/WosFdn4P8tI/AAAAAAAAym8/q7esTxpr39Up7SnCViyvVJ11ctCvQN_rgCLcBGAs/s1600/Omae%252Bwa%252Bmou%252Bshindeiru_4417fc_6506706.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="1200" height="296" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AzCif5-N9ng/WosFdn4P8tI/AAAAAAAAym8/q7esTxpr39Up7SnCViyvVJ11ctCvQN_rgCLcBGAs/s320/Omae%252Bwa%252Bmou%252Bshindeiru_4417fc_6506706.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />What the hell? Weird. Hey, you know what album I wish I could listen to right now?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rf4zkPUtYRs/WosFxNr-C3I/AAAAAAAAynA/QwYiW_BufL4vuccZnNxVOCQfxI89ESgLgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="960" height="390" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rf4zkPUtYRs/WosFxNr-C3I/AAAAAAAAynA/QwYiW_BufL4vuccZnNxVOCQfxI89ESgLgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2489.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />I bet it's very funny. So, it's Presidents Day and you know Trump's thing is "Make America Great Again," right? Well, it's not actually original.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d97JPQUtX2I/WosGQc1crWI/AAAAAAAAynM/iDK20lby1c4a7nYGPP_8EQ3jLz4-B2CwQCLcBGAs/s1600/Blank%252B_ec66c385effb3ec68f4f607aece6904d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="799" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d97JPQUtX2I/WosGQc1crWI/AAAAAAAAynM/iDK20lby1c4a7nYGPP_8EQ3jLz4-B2CwQCLcBGAs/s400/Blank%252B_ec66c385effb3ec68f4f607aece6904d.jpg" width="332" /></a></div><br />See? Hahaha. That made me laugh. Alright, so, I'm British as you probably know... well, you know what us British people think about the French. Ha! Here again is the pheature called...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-roG8I5E80kk/WosGket6QeI/AAAAAAAAynQ/dGdaVGzO3VQbWPHTJF4Y6272epuyVc-9wCLcBGAs/s1600/FyY1m1483297007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="490" height="365" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-roG8I5E80kk/WosGket6QeI/AAAAAAAAynQ/dGdaVGzO3VQbWPHTJF4Y6272epuyVc-9wCLcBGAs/s400/FyY1m1483297007.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Being on the world stage representing your country in the Olympics is, to put it lightly, a lot of pressure. But when things unexpectedly go wrong, Olympic dreams can turn into a complete nightmare. When Gabriella Papadakis and her partner, Guillaume Cizeron, took to the ice to skate their short program on Monday, a disastrous wardrobe malfunction was probably the last thing on the French skaters' minds. However, a few seconds into their routine, Papadakis' clasp on her halter top snapped, and her dress fell down, leaving her left breast was exposed.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3-r2UhLKeko/WosHMOcsTZI/AAAAAAAAync/FBDFgbILfa80g_bDIT5ZgxuuLcEAr6YiQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-19%2Bat%2B11.17.35%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="509" height="314" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3-r2UhLKeko/WosHMOcsTZI/AAAAAAAAync/FBDFgbILfa80g_bDIT5ZgxuuLcEAr6YiQCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-19%2Bat%2B11.17.35%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />And although this was obviously a major distraction to the veteran pair, Papadakis managed to keep her cool and played off the malfunction like the pro she is. The two came in second, scoring 81.93... less than two points behind Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (83.67). The way the pair handled the malfunction scored them serious points with spectators. "It’s just frustrating to miss a few points because of a costume issue," said Cizeron, according to the "Washington Post." "That’s not what we get ready for when we train. I’m still proud that we managed to pull out a program like that even with a difficulty like this." When reporters asked Papadakis how she was feeling, the 22-year-old responded "Not great."<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0Cgc51pVpOw/WosIBzvokjI/AAAAAAAAyno/ZTZKdQgL2OEjjLSR9aLRl74ccP8t9U1hQCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0Cgc51pVpOw/WosIBzvokjI/AAAAAAAAyno/ZTZKdQgL2OEjjLSR9aLRl74ccP8t9U1hQCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h76uRB6H96k/WosIH2ZbZOI/AAAAAAAAyns/ztZ-Op_pna8K4rTDUdkMp111_HyfNJAnACLcBGAs/s1600/Harry-Potter-movie-poster-mistake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1257" data-original-width="786" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h76uRB6H96k/WosIH2ZbZOI/AAAAAAAAyns/ztZ-Op_pna8K4rTDUdkMp111_HyfNJAnACLcBGAs/s400/Harry-Potter-movie-poster-mistake.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><br />This is a hard one... if you spot the Mindphuck let me know. So, with the recent mass shooting here in Florida last week a lot of people are starting to blame kids. Well, a friend of the Phile has something to say about that. He's a singer, patriot and renaissance man. You know what time it is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4zsrHlIJbXc/WosKEXqfE7I/AAAAAAAAyn8/4Fef-PKcp4MRTEneyEq-kGTRngkYlNg-QCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8ff.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1566" data-original-width="1400" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4zsrHlIJbXc/WosKEXqfE7I/AAAAAAAAyn8/4Fef-PKcp4MRTEneyEq-kGTRngkYlNg-QCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8ff.jpeg" width="357" /></a></div><br />Good afternoon, phuckerz. The problem isn’t our kids... it’s US. Parents no longer take an active role in raising their kids... or even monitoring what their kids are up to. I see it every day... Parents too busy on their phones to even notice what the kids are doing. Mom and dad too busy texting to watch their children. Meanwhile, the kids are online downloading God knows what or playing any number of games like "Grand Theft Auto" or whatever first person shooter game their friends just turned them onto. Watching movies that just glorify violent rage and solving any and all problems by shooting everything in sight. The kids become so desensitized to gun violence, they have a mental disconnection to the reality of it. The kid gets picked on because he’s deemed a weirdo or an outsider... next thing you know, little Billy gets his hands on a gun and decides to “make things right” by shooting everyone. THEN we plaster this kid’s face, name and life history all over the media and make a fucking celebrity out of him. Wanna stop this? Fine... here’s a good start... 1. Stop making celebrities out of these people. 2. Start spending TIME with your kids instead of letting movies, video games and the Internet raise them for you. 3. Stop throwing pills down the throats of kids who clearly need one on one therapy from trained professionals. 4. Get off your fucking cell phones and watch your kids, their friends, their Internet interests, their attitude and demeanor towards others... (you’d be surprised at what you learn, if you pay attention). 5. Teach your children about “personal accountability for their actions.” 6. Stop placating your children... you are NOT their buddy, their pal, or their best friend... you are an adult supervisor of their behavior and the chief guidance as to where they end up in life... Being a parent takes a tremendous amount of time and responsibility.... if you’re not up to the task, get a fucking goldfish... and leave parenting to those who actually have the time, patience and determination to do so in a suitable manner.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MK0u4pe26Q0/WosLE1XzD7I/AAAAAAAAyoI/Bodf4MCe4YkQZMmXFx5sRealBcehHUAkwCLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="400" height="187" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MK0u4pe26Q0/WosLE1XzD7I/AAAAAAAAyoI/Bodf4MCe4YkQZMmXFx5sRealBcehHUAkwCLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xajwRJwhvWg/WosLYef93mI/AAAAAAAAyoM/NT1Wnh_FZ-kzBPJh5Sj4AfyucLzqGz98wCLcBGAs/s1600/love-it-when-people-get-called-on-their-bs-21-photos-13-CYaGaa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xajwRJwhvWg/WosLYef93mI/AAAAAAAAyoM/NT1Wnh_FZ-kzBPJh5Sj4AfyucLzqGz98wCLcBGAs/s640/love-it-when-people-get-called-on-their-bs-21-photos-13-CYaGaa.jpg" width="356" /></a></div><br />That's really funny...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m5tqnyVzbqY/WosLm6wZjZI/AAAAAAAAyoU/6LYKPQX15t80V1oWB92aDxg_mWZEhOPpACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="583" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m5tqnyVzbqY/WosLm6wZjZI/AAAAAAAAyoU/6LYKPQX15t80V1oWB92aDxg_mWZEhOPpACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div><br />Donald Trump kicked off President's Day by doing what he loves most... smearing people on Twitter. Late last night, Trump tweeted this unprovoked attack on Oprah after her "60-Minutes" special aired on CBS. Oprah sat down with 14 voters, half of whom voted for Trump, for a follow up after first interviewing them on the show in 2017. Oprah hosted a group discussion that covered everything from Trump's "shithole countries" comments to his sexual harassment allegations. It certainly seems that Trump was not a fan of the program...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T8RIZ8qcMhg/WosMESApJCI/AAAAAAAAyog/VLL3JJ4-Uz8anZkLfS5zO9gXLDsHWLmRACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-19%2Bat%2B12.40.11%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="493" height="198" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T8RIZ8qcMhg/WosMESApJCI/AAAAAAAAyog/VLL3JJ4-Uz8anZkLfS5zO9gXLDsHWLmRACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-19%2Bat%2B12.40.11%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Well, someone <i>does</i> seem insecure here... and it certainly is not Oprah. A strong, successful black woman who is a self-made billionaire who happens to be beloved by millions? What about Oprah could possibly intimidate Trump? After Oprah delivered a rousing speech at this year's Golden Globes, many wondered if the media mogul would consider running for the White House. Trump wasted no time commenting on Oprah's potential political future, telling reporters back in January, "Yeah, I'd beat Oprah. Oprah would be a lot of fun. I know her very well. You know I did one of her last shows... she had Donald Trump (this is before politics) her last week and she had Donald Trump and my family, it was very nice. No, I like Oprah. I don't think she's going to run." Whatever you say, my dude. Indeed Oprah later clarified that she has no plans to run for office, so you can stop sweating now, Mr. President.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y--KAqG4kEI/WosNFwrVpMI/AAAAAAAAyow/A3Xh5rInHfY65_MokVgVomCqRN6gMw_gQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_38.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="400" height="376" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y--KAqG4kEI/WosNFwrVpMI/AAAAAAAAyow/A3Xh5rInHfY65_MokVgVomCqRN6gMw_gQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_38.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today's pheatured guest is best known as bassist for the Attractions, the band formed in 1977 to back Elvis Costello in concert and on record. He is also the author of "Rough Notes... And Grainy Images," the 75th book to be pheatured in the Peverett Phile Book Club. Please welcome to the Phile... Bruce Thomas.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N5Smv3-YNnE/WosNzy4n9nI/AAAAAAAAyo4/R3JUrlH137E8BxSB1k9FYZviSsHIfSK_wCLcBGAs/s1600/15781477_423031518028193_1699738934315756044_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="960" height="331" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N5Smv3-YNnE/WosNzy4n9nI/AAAAAAAAyo4/R3JUrlH137E8BxSB1k9FYZviSsHIfSK_wCLcBGAs/s400/15781477_423031518028193_1699738934315756044_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hey, Bruce, welcome to the Phile. How are you?<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>Sure. I'm good.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, I love your book "Rough Notes," which is the 75th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club. Before you were in the Attractions I was surprised to read you were in a jazz band. I was thinking prog and certain jazz music are my least favorite kinds of music so if you kept dong that kind of stuff I would never have heard of you, read your book, and probably wouldn't have you on the Phile. What was is like switching music styles and going that way, Bruce?<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>Yeah, I was in a jazz-blues band called Village and then a sort of soft rock country band called Quiver, then I became kind of new wave with the Attractions. There was a pool of musicians that kind of mix and matched and followed the money or followed the prevailing trends. I don't think I was ever deprived in not doing 12 minute bass solos and to play proper songs. I wasn't one of those people. Certain with the prog guys, the usual suspects, the Rick Wakeman's and Steve Howe's off this world, would not want to play three minute pop songs. Having said that Rick Wakeman would play classic piano on a David Bowie single and so on. It's a matter of taking opportunities where you find them because every musician that was in a band that happened there was just a many good ones that weren't.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What kind of music do you like to play the best yourself, Bruce?<br /><br /><b>Bruce:</b> I don't play Jaco Pastorius because that would mean hard work. I always ended to go down the R&amp;B pop route. When I started playing it was easier to play along to Booker T than the Beatles. Gradually I got through the blues, R&amp;B soul riffing mode. There's two traditions isn't there? There's the black American R&amp;B, then there's the white European classical tradition, the Beatles drew on both where Abba was very much European and certain American bands are definitely R&amp;B based, when R&amp;B meant rhythm and blues and not rack &amp; bullshit of course.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Right. Haha. So, tell me about Quiver. I was not aware of that band, Bruce.<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>That was a band that decided to produce their own album and the bass player insisted having a bass solo on the record. And of course bass solos, everyone really loves them, don't they? I think I got stuck at one point and put backwards bass on it. I've been going backwards ever since.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Do you feel or think that the new wave music I'm the 70s is as thoughtful and thought out as the music you were making before in the 60s?<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>Yes. Most of the songs that prevailed from that period like the Buzzcocks, or Blondie, or Jam, or Elvis are every bit as musically sophisticated that went before, it's just has as much more harmonic possibilities and chord changes. Even the Pistols and the Damned, you really can't be successful being bad. Even "Louie Louie" by the Kingmen or the Troggs or something, it's not mindless simplistic nonsense. I don't remember what that was as it got buried within the year of surfacing. I don't think punk or new wave was any less musically said than anything that went before it. And popularly I think it's more musically valid than the endless music from the prog dinosaurs.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I agree. Like I said I'm not a big fan of prog even though I had some prog people on the Phile... even Ian Anderson from one of my worst bands ever. It was a pretty good interview though. So, what was Village like, your band before Quiver?<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>Village was a kind of jazz blues prog, jazz blues with longish solos. I thought we're right on the cutting edge here, but it has all been done literally three or four years earlier by a bands called Clouds.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, I love the story about when you got the job with Elvis, how a lady called you from and said you should give this guy a chance. Tell the Phile readers how you got the job with Elvis.<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>I ring for the audition and its pretty obvious that he was standing next to her, "Ask him what bands he's played in." Mutter. Prog country, no, get rid of him. "Who are your favourite bands?" I said, "Steely Dan." They were possibly the best band at the time and definitely a candidate for one of the best three bands of all time in my opinion. "Get rid of him." "No, he sounds nice. Give him a chance." You know the rest of the story, I ended up marrying her. Not because of that, but incidentally.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Why do you think they gave you a chance, Bruce?<br /><br /><b>Bruce:</b> I don't know. Maybe it was one of those days I was being charming and polite. Or maybe it was some sort of recognition, You know the story, Elvis actually wanted people that couldn't play. He wanted a real garage band but that's not the best agenda as he was an up and coming songwriter. Anyway, it all worked out.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I have to show this cool pic of the Attractions...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VgmsZfBDX3M/WosRWuLzadI/AAAAAAAAypE/IprJOAcNPmgUzVOccWrfXEKa2kS0Tik1QCLcBGAs/s1600/Elvis%252BCostello%252B%252BThe%252BAttractions.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="486" height="281" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VgmsZfBDX3M/WosRWuLzadI/AAAAAAAAypE/IprJOAcNPmgUzVOccWrfXEKa2kS0Tik1QCLcBGAs/s320/Elvis%252BCostello%252B%252BThe%252BAttractions.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Me: </b>When you joined with Elvis was he the one in charge as the front man or did you have a say on anything, like a democracy?<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>To me it was always a band with a front man because Pete Thomas is a superb drummer and Steve Nieve is easily as good, we were all world class musicians. I think Elvis might admit he got lucky. We certainly contributed massively from the songs being developed from the writing stage to the record stage. He would come to us with a song just with vocals and a guitar, we certainly contributed and it was reflected in the fact he did a kind of profit participation thing with the albums on that basis but we never got actual songwriting credits. I'm not going to go into any legal areas like that if I wrote that and so forth but I would say with "Pump It Up" and "Chelsea" the riff is what is the song. When I had people who wanted to cover the bass line of "Pump It Up" on YouTube it gets taken down as infringing on Elvis' copyright, yet it's just them playing the bass line. If Elvis came up with it it would be just E, E, E, E, E, the chord. There was no riff or anything there. Then it reaches that kind of technical discintion I think hold up, the bass line isn't the song... It's not infringing anyone's copyright really. But that's the way to goes.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Well, I have to say you deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame just for "Pump It Up." Do you agree? Haha.<br /><br /><b>Bruce:</b> That's very nice of you but it took less effort for you to type that. The riff wasn't totally spontaneous, it was kind sort of contrived from a high brow riff from what I've been listening to at the time. It's kind of weird. If you listen to "To the Price of Love" by the Everly Brothers you'll get the rhythmic pattern. And if you listen to "You Gotta Lose" by Richard Hell &amp; The Voidoids and you put those to notes to the riff you get "Pump It Up." It's a hybrid riff. Then I was left with a half a bar so I added "You Really Got Me," which was one of the best songs ever written. So, that was is.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Wow. Okay, so, what happened between you and Elvis? You don't have to answer that of you don't want, sir.<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>There are several possible answers. It wasn't a straight forward falling out because I've written things in the book he didn't like, that's the first myth to dispel. Although I happily traded on that because I wanted to sell some books. The first book I wrote was "The Big Wheel," which was about the band up until the first time time we split up in the late 80s. The myth was that he'd taken exception to my depiction of him in the book and I got fired. It wasn't that at all. I went into the real reason in "Rough Notes," which is something he did to Steve Nieve, nothing to do with me that I took exception to, although Steve seemed to forgive him before I did but I was a bit upset by something he did to Steve. I would say there's always been I'm not backseat driver, and I think he really liked as time went on, he wanted to be the main focal point. I don't know. That's part of the dynamic as well. There was one point in the midwest in some generic town that I don't remember the name of, where he'd been to a local bookstore and bought a load of self-help books which would be something like "I'm Okay, You're Okay." He got them all on stage and went through them one by one. He said, "I'm okay, you're okay. No, you're fucking not." He ripped the pages out and said, "John Livingstone Seagull... fly," and chucked it into the audience. He went through this kind of book destruction ritual and nobody in the crowd knew what he was doing that for. Later on he gave me a book, a James Herbert book, whose title was "Leave Your Mind Alone." I think it was very pointedly staying to me "stop thinking." I once asked him what his philosophy was. He said, "I don't believe in philosophy." Which course is a philosophy. It's kind of like saying I don't believe in speaking, or I don't believe in breathing. You have to do it to answer the question. I think there's an element of condition... I don't know if that's the right word. It's not full blown narcism, but it's a kind of threat where he wanted to be acknowledge as the source of fountain of all that's good that is happening and he didn't want to share it. I think a certain politician that we know of has the same problem. I don't say it's full blown but I think there was an element of that.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>We all have these Napoleon complex thanks to social media. Was there anything Elvis did that <i>wasn't </i>a problem?<br /><br /><b>Bruce:</b> He never said for me to change a bass part or a riff. Nobody's ever done that on session work on anything, people have always trusted me or let me loose... apart from Chrissy Hynde. I write the books and I edit them, I edit them, I edit them until I am happy them and that's it. I understand the creative anatomy. If someone was jibbing on my books or lines I'll probably get just as cross as he did.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Are you the only one who spoke up, Bruce, to Elvis? I somehow think you were.<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>Yeah, I was the only one who took Elvis to the side and thought I'm going to get fired for this but I told him he have to get himself together. Fortunately he didn't get rid of me or avoid me, he took it on board. We've all had friends that said to us, "You're sure about this?" at some point in our lives.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Do you ever feel regret thinking if I kept my mouth shut I could be put there playing with the other guys?<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>When you go down what I would call "alternative timeline questions" you could do it with everything. Like I didn't know she was giving me the signals for blah, blah blah. I missed out on a job with Pink Floyd. I didn't read the signals properly and missed out on lord knows I don't know how many women because I'm dumb. Funny enough, this question is the sort of question that is being addressed in my new book. There's a story by Jorge Luis Borges called "The Garden of Forking Paths" which is like a "sliding doors" thing, if you done A instead of B what would happen. Really you'd end up in the same place. its like <i>The Butterfly Effect</i> film where he goes back, changes the timeline, that doesn't work, goes back again changes the timeline and in the end finding the only thing that works is what he did anyway. It's like living in the present and doing the right thing as you see at the time, You can't go back and do it. You can go back and experiment what would be the outcome and nearly every time the outcome you'd think I wish I've done that, you would end up in the same place anyway because wherever you go you take yourself with you. You take your own behavioral patterns or karmic patterns and sooner or later you'd being the same things back into your life.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, I am a pretty big Elvis Costello fan, and saw him with the Imposters back in 2010 I think it was. I have to say I like his earlier stuff more than his later stuff though... but "Spike" is in my top ten favorite albums of all time I think. My dad was a big Elvis Costello fan and turned me onto him when I was a kid with Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, and my number one favorite Graham Parker. Anyway, do you listen to his music now or don't you care? If you do, what do you think of his more recent music?<br /><br /><b>Bruce:</b> Well, they all seem like Irish folk ballads now that I really don't give a shit about. It's all about some guy who did this, went to war, came back and I think hang on, I think "Mystery Dance" was better. That's the worn out road he's gone down. It's so much like he has the need to impress or something. I used to write like that, I used to write books that were really purposely that I wanted to show that I had the vocabulary, the heritage, the metaphors, the turns of phrase, I knew my background stuff, I could paraphrase a famous author with a witty adaption of a quote, and I wanted everyone to pick up on it and everything and in the end people wanted me to talk directly from the heart so it were.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Have you listened to the Imposters or Elvis recently do the songs you played on?<br /><br /><b>Bruce:</b> I really have never, will never unless by a accident and can never listen to the other guy doing my parts because I know they are not done right. I know from people that have seen gigs and the other guy whose name will remain unmentioned. I call him "Nigel Garage," which sounds close enough. Someone said to me when they did "Human Hands" Pete actually looked embarrassed. He would do. I have to be careful, but I have to say I know what I was doing, I know what I did. I don't supposed nobody could do it exactly even if it was the Beatles or the Who... no one can do the bass parts and make them sound exactly as they were.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, who are your influences, Bruce?<br /><br /><b>Bruce:</b> Peter Green, which I talk about in the book. He's channeling the Gods if you like. He's playing music from another dimension. It's the people like that who can play one note that will just go right through you. It's just pure, pure soul content. The best musicians and composers are like that.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Cool. My dad was a Peter Green fan as well, and played on a Peter Green tribute album. So, did you know you and Elvis were on "Complex Magazine" list of being one of the "best rock and roll fights" or something? I think it was called "The 50 Greatest Beefs in Rock History." You guys ranked 28th, according to "Complex."<br /><br /><b>Bruce:</b> Only 28th? I thought we've done a bit better than that. I'm sure they've got Dave Davis and Ray Davis, Bill Wyman and the Stones, the Gallagher brothers, Sam and Dave.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> In the article it says that you guys had a falling out because Elvis was involved with Cait O'Riordan from the Pogues, and you were with her as well. You guys broke up over her. Is that true?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Bruce:</b> No. The irony is the first time Cait ever showed up in our lives it was when the Pogues were supporting us on a U.K. tour. Elvis actually came up to me and said, "Have you seen the bass player of the Pogues?" I said, "Why?" He said, "She's right up your street. Just your type." He ended up marrying her. No, I was actually more friendly with his first wife Mary. Nothing would never make "The National Enquire," that's for sure. If that was true their wouldn't be the second coming of the band. He might've got a few songs out of it. Ha ha ha.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, I have to ask you about the Michael Jackson story, Bruce. What is it?<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>We were recording "Imperial Bedroom" in London Studios, and I've done a bit of work with Paul McCartney in the past and the guy who was co-producing our album was Geoff Emerick, who engineered on the "Sgt. Pepper" and "White" album and had a lot of Beatles anecdotes and as luck would have hit in the next studio to us McCartney was recording. Having sat through all these anecdotes for a couple of hours I was convinced he was my oldest best friend. I had met him before and worked with him but hadn't seen him for a couple of years or so. So, I popped down to the door, poked my head around the corner into this dimly lit room where there was playback going on. I was invited him into the dim room and Paul said, "Oh, here's Michael. Say hello to Michael." I said, "Oh, hello, man." I thought I have never seen him here before so I wondered if he won a competition on Capitol Radio to spend time in the studio. And Michael said, "Hey, man, Quicny didn't like what Elvis said about James Brown." I said, "Who the bloody hell is Quincy? I don't know anyone called Quincy." "Quincy Jones." I said, "How the hell do you know Quincy Jones?" He said, "He's my producer." Then of course the realisation crashed in upon me. This is Michael Jackson, the biggest megastar in the world I failed to recognise in the dim light. Of course it went from bad to worse when Paul said Elvis didn't mean anything by what he said. It's just the way we banter. it's just the way us Brit's rat each other. Looking at me as if to say help me out. I said, "Yeah, it's like me saying, 'McCartney, whenever are you going to write a decent song?"" That's that story.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b>&nbsp;That's great! I was working Epcot once, standing in the middle of the park and my manager at the time freaked out, pulling on my sleeve saying, "That's Michael Jackson." I was like where and he said he walked right by us about five feet away. Michael had a team of Disney managers, security, his bodyguards, not to mention his three kids... all wearing Mardi Gras like masks, carrying flamboyant umbrellas. I didn't notice the "freak parade" at all. Hahaha. Anyway, you worked with Paul Rodgers as well, right? Where and how was that?<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>He was in the second band I was ever in basically. He was the bass player in a band in Middlesbrough, in the north of England called the Roadrunners. I was working at a local newspaper as a commercial artist, or what they call now graphic designer, and he and the guitar player in the Roadrunners were messenger boys at the newspaper. I got talking to the guitarist because he had a Paul Butterfield Blues Band album and we realised we liked the same stuff basically. Paul Rodgers wanted to stop playing the bass as he wanted to concentrate on singing. I've been playing bass in a group called the Tremours and I was the harmonica player. It was a very R&amp;B beat group kind of thing. The bass player didn't turn up one night so I played the bass and took over. I was asked to join the Roadrunners on bass and so I did and we started getting quite good. We became the kind of best band in the area and we decided to turn professional and come to London and we split up after a few months and he went off and formed Free.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> My dad was in a band called the Roadrunners as well. Crazy. Where in London did you guys live?<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>By Hampstead Heath. Paul used to go in the middle of the Heath and scream a primal scream until his voice disappeared. When it came back it would be a bit huskier and he'd do it again. He actually managed to get his voice to drop a register. I guess he knew what he was doing but I'd would of thought it was a real risk what he was doing. he could of damaged it forever.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I was born in '68, years after and we lived in Hampstead Heath before we moved to America in '74. It's a small world. My dad and Paul were really good friends. I'm trying to get him on the Phile. One day. So, what was the first song you learnt on the bass, Bruce?<br /><br /><b>Bruce:</b> I think it was "Roll Over Beethoven." There was a guy who would show me a riff and I'll play it.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Ahhh. So, I was thinking, I wonder if you came across my parents at all. You played with Steve Winwood who my mum dated, so I wonder. Did you know him pretty well?<br /><br /><b>Bruce:</b> I saw Steve Winwood when he was about 16, singing like Ray Charles and playing the organ. I saw the Spencer Davis Group when "Keep On Running" because number one at a club in Middlesbrough and of course it's been booked months before, they actually got the band that had the number one record for 70 pounds. I did a couple of gigs with Traffic and things like that. I remember Steve used to have his girlfriend sitting on the organ seat besides him. I wonder id that was your mum.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> No, that was too late. She dated him when he started out, they were teenagers. What is your favorite song you have played on, Bruce?<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>The most enduring me was actually doing "Shipbuilding" where Chet Baker made my hair stand up on the back of my neck. I was playing the bass line and he followed it with a trumpet and I thought this guy was listening. We went out to the pub and came back and I thought I just play the chord pattern and improvise it in a completely different genre to loosen it up so it's not tinny eighth to the bar kind of pop and that was "B-Movie." I don't know what it is... jazz, reggae, or what. They dropped in the keyboards, the drums, guitar, vocals, everything. Dropped straight in even to the point where missing a beat where there was a turnaround, even that was improvised, it wasn't arranged. That was literally unrehearsed, first and only take of that song. There was a good day where we did "This Years Model" where we did seven backing tracks in one day. That's not bad.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, you just did an album with a guy named Spencer Brown. Who is that, Bruce?<br /><br /><b>Bruce:</b> He's a Facebook friend who would send me songs to see what I thought about them and what I could suggest and I gradually realised he was writing good songs and I was coming up with a lot of ideas for arrangements and production. At some point he said to me would I fancy coming along and putting bass on them? Well, I said, if you're going to make an album I'll come along and put bass on it, produce it and mix it. We'll collaborate on it. We've done that and that's been out for a little while. It's called "Back to the Start" and is on Amazon, Spotify, iTunes and all the usual places. I wanted to prove to people I could still play bass as well as I did. The flame still burns.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Cool. It's a cool album, Bruce. So, thanks for being on the Phile. Take care and mention your website and I hope you'll come back on the Phile when your next book comes out.<br /><br /><b>Bruce: </b>Thanks, Jason. <a href="http://brucethomas.co.uk/">Brucethomas.co.uk/</a>. I hope I can.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Cool. Take care.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QjcQ-HOHZHY/WosVhRcAjhI/AAAAAAAAypQ/RIn3Sf6st2cxAuPAbb7Q2yeurzVyzRX7QCLcBGAs/s1600/41ZDq9ooueL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QjcQ-HOHZHY/WosVhRcAjhI/AAAAAAAAypQ/RIn3Sf6st2cxAuPAbb7Q2yeurzVyzRX7QCLcBGAs/s400/41ZDq9ooueL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><br />That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to my guests Laird Jim and of course Bruce Thomas. What a great interview. The Phile will be back next Sunday with musician Kristin Rebecca. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ef3BrNnL6kU/WosYRTJPMYI/AAAAAAAAypg/tN2O0Qto5icRU85eH-ATJZijZB9lNn4NQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a64.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="518" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ef3BrNnL6kU/WosYRTJPMYI/AAAAAAAAypg/tN2O0Qto5icRU85eH-ATJZijZB9lNn4NQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_a64.jpeg" width="215" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-83132159879923409842018-02-18T12:41:00.000-05:002018-02-18T12:41:25.699-05:00Pheaturing Burt Ward<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5TQJ0LCXvKY/WomSfdm1oPI/AAAAAAAAygI/h2gIYtgUYPEUKvVioJObQQjfrva4107bQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_5f.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5TQJ0LCXvKY/WomSfdm1oPI/AAAAAAAAygI/h2gIYtgUYPEUKvVioJObQQjfrva4107bQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_5f.jpeg" width="378" /></a></div><br /><b>Hey</b>, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Sunday. How are you? Are you watching the Olympics? I'm at an age where I take Tylenol just to watch it. Watching the Olympics has inspired me to see how far I can push my procrastination.<br /><b>Gus</b> Kenworthy is an Olympic freestyle skier representing Team U.S.A. in Pyeongchang and won a silver medal in Sochi. Kenworthy is openly gay, and celebrated the Opening Ceremonies with his fellow gay Olympian Adam Rippon, who pissed off Vice President Mike Pence by speaking up against Pence's harmful, homophobic policies. Kenworthy tweeted on Thursday that he unfortunately broke his thumb during practice, but thankfully it won't stop him from skiing. He did, however, find a silver lining.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C-kdYPkPTx8/WomXTbFXPFI/AAAAAAAAygs/hqEKUBNkHfQn3mq6qnBXawGptIviH9uGgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-18%2Bat%2B10.09.43%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="498" height="392" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C-kdYPkPTx8/WomXTbFXPFI/AAAAAAAAygs/hqEKUBNkHfQn3mq6qnBXawGptIviH9uGgCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-18%2Bat%2B10.09.43%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Kenworthy joked. In addition to wishing him well, people loved the Pence joke, except for one girl, to whom he clapped back.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yJRuyPMoTbU/WomXyBH-hPI/AAAAAAAAyg0/4sI6TeBm40MB_SlQ2fELkHJn_rgBNM5IACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-18%2Bat%2B10.11.50%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="486" height="205" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yJRuyPMoTbU/WomXyBH-hPI/AAAAAAAAyg0/4sI6TeBm40MB_SlQ2fELkHJn_rgBNM5IACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-18%2Bat%2B10.11.50%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Sorry, lady. Ya burnt. Get well soon, Gus! And kill it out there!<br /><b>There</b> are few forces in the universe as enduring and potentially humiliating as a mother's love, and Oscar-winning actress Sally Fields proves no exception to this rule. Pretty much the whole world has fallen in love with the first openly gay Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon for both his athletic abilities and flawless Twitter feed. And Fields' son, Sam Griesam, also took note of Rippon's talent and charm. Alongside many of you, Griesam formed a full-fledged crush on the Olympian skater. When Fields caught wind of the crush, she immediately urged her son to make an actual move. Griesam shared a screenshot of the playful mother and son text exchange with his Twitter followers. However, being the most motherly matchmaker of them all, Fields didn't let Griesam off easy. She took matters into her own hands and tagged Rippon in a tweet. Of course, this immediately embarrassed him. But the rest of the Internet loved watching the exchange unfold. Plus, if Rippon sees this, he'll understand that moms are unbounded by the conventions of social media. At the time of writing, Rippon has yet to respond to the tweet. But that's hardly surprising given his busy Olympics schedule. Nonetheless, Twitter fans and followers will be eagerly waiting to see how Rippon responds to this particularly thirsty mention.<br /><b>If</b> you time traveled to the year 2004 and told Americans that Donald Trump would be president, and Omarosa Manigault would be the White House Director of Communications, you would've been laughed to the bank. But alas, here we are, with Trump as president, and Omarosa as a former White House employee now living her life on "Celebrity Big Brother." On the Friday episode of "Celebrity Big Brother," the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" alum Brandi Glanville asked Omarosa, "Did you ever sleep with him?" When Glanville was asked to clarify who she was referring to, she answered, "Trump." "Hell no! Of course not. Brandi, that’s horrible," Omarosa replied. She then went on to hint that another woman in the White House has been sleeping around. "I’m not... there’s somebody in the White House that’s sleeping around with everybody. But she is not me, I’ve never had to do that," Omarosa said. Despite being nudged both by Glanville and the voyeuristic curiosity of Americans across the country, Omarosa declined to name names. Glanville, however, went on to muse that she'd heard Trump had slept with a handful of "Celebrity Apprentice" contestants. In the spirit of Omarosa, Glanville also didn't name names. "But you never heard my name did you?” Omarosa asked. “No,“ Glanville replied. “He seemed to like you so much, I was just wondering.” “God no,” Omarosa emphasized, “I’m just ratings gold.” It looks like there's yet another mystery for the American people to crack open.<br /><b>During</b> its first weekend in theaters, Marvel's <i>Black Panther</i> is already breaking records. So far, <i>Black Panther</i> has surpassed all other superhero movies for ticket presales, it currently stands as the highest-rated superhero film on Rotten Tomatoes, and it hits the top of the ranks for Thursday night preview records for a Marvel film. All that being said, it's pretty obvious that people are 100% here for this movie. In fact, Twitter user @Stevelikescups and an accomplice wanted to see the movie so bad they stacked themselves inside a trench coat in hopes of scoring a 2-for-1 deal. Check it out...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WmE0UeW_4U8/WomVPqYFv7I/AAAAAAAAygg/0jJTcQcsAV0Uu_8hYiBNFyxv_MiSl2dfACLcBGAs/s1600/DWMiAyoUMAMrE29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WmE0UeW_4U8/WomVPqYFv7I/AAAAAAAAygg/0jJTcQcsAV0Uu_8hYiBNFyxv_MiSl2dfACLcBGAs/s400/DWMiAyoUMAMrE29.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br />Honestly, their beautiful dedication should get them both in for free. Somehow, the movie theater manager noticed something different about the suspiciously tall man in the trench coat. Fans of "Bojack Horseman" were quick to draw comparisons to Vincent Adultman, a character who is (not so) secretly three kids stacked in a trench coat. Now they have a Halloween costume ready for fall. Other movie goers were duly impressed by the spectacle of the guys staked in the trench coat. <i>I</i> want to know where one finds a jacket that large?! It CAN'T be Burlington, that's too obvious. While they didn't get a 2-for-1 <i>Black Panther</i> screening deal, they DID elicit a lot of online appreciation and cultural references. Still, I think this amount of effort at least deserved a suspiciously tall free popcorn. Speaking of <i>Black Panther</i>... Racist trolls online have not been handling it well, and have been spreading claims of fake violence at screenings. To make matters worse, trolls are not only spreading false claims, but they've been stealing photos of victims of actual violence for their sick aims. One of the stolen photos features a woman who was attacked at a bar in Sweden last month, while another is of an ex-wife of former Trump staffer and serial abuser Rob Porter. Luckily, people online have been quick to refute these ugly and false claims, with many pointing out the origins of the photos. These claims embody a disgusting mix of pure racism and deep disrespect to domestic violence victims. Luckily, it appears that not very many people believe them.<br /><b>With</b> all the insane stories on the Internet, it's a marvel that planes ever take off and land at all. This week's crazy plane istory is brought to you by Delta Airlines, and a woman who freaked the fuck out at a baby. Yes, a baby. "USA Today" reports that on a flight from New York City to Syracuse, New York, a state employee freaking out at the sight of a baby, saying she "work(s) for the governor" and insisting on a new seat away from the child in the back. The baby's mom, Marissa Rundell, filmed the woman begging a flight attendant to let her stay on the plane, but up in the first class. Nice try, lady. The video has more than 1.5 million views, because everyone can relate... either with the mom or the baby-hater. "This lady thought she was going to be rude to me and Mason now she has no way home today. Thank you to the lovely Delta flight attendant for not letting this women bully us." Rundell wrote on Facebook. "Karma is a bastard." The woman works at New York State's Council on the Arts, and according to "USA Today," has been placed on leave pending an investigation of her conduct. The Council on the Arts spokesperson said state employees "must be held to the highest standard both professionally and personally." This leaves Rundell feeling torn. "I feel bad because of it, because I know it's because I posted that video," Rundell said. "A part of me feels like she's getting what she deserved. And then another part of me just feels bad that it's happening, because I don't know her story."<br /><b>There</b> are some Olympians that are worth watching because they are attractive... like Akuoma Omeoga from Nigeria for instance...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Lp53EVnxyo/WomdFumpYnI/AAAAAAAAyhE/J-aMNRkD38gQnlPzuoOX9oNqpcjeQH2agCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-18%2Bat%2B10.26.33%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="585" height="318" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Lp53EVnxyo/WomdFumpYnI/AAAAAAAAyhE/J-aMNRkD38gQnlPzuoOX9oNqpcjeQH2agCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-18%2Bat%2B10.26.33%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hey, so I saw this ad and think I wanna buy it...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rY993jvvrOA/WomfNYvqWsI/AAAAAAAAyhY/VckG0MYJT-UFbU26j6iIh-0mGaXHxJt5QCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_9856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="466" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rY993jvvrOA/WomfNYvqWsI/AAAAAAAAyhY/VckG0MYJT-UFbU26j6iIh-0mGaXHxJt5QCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_9856.JPG" width="258" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Not that I need it or anything... So, did you see the new trailer for <i>The Incredibles 2</i>? If you didn;t I have a screenshot to show you...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-65V0asebMPc/WomgKYMPeQI/AAAAAAAAyhk/gmFHjpsTukAsbkR1u3G8fD_50I6YCwM8gCLcBGAs/s1600/Helen%252Bparr%252Btrigger%252Bmentionlist%252Bassmen%252Btrigger%252Bmentionlist%252Bthiccthighs%252Btrigger%252Bmentionlist%252Blewdoneesans_931be9_6321461.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="900" height="223" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-65V0asebMPc/WomgKYMPeQI/AAAAAAAAyhk/gmFHjpsTukAsbkR1u3G8fD_50I6YCwM8gCLcBGAs/s400/Helen%252Bparr%252Btrigger%252Bmentionlist%252Bassmen%252Btrigger%252Bmentionlist%252Bthiccthighs%252Btrigger%252Bmentionlist%252Blewdoneesans_931be9_6321461.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">She's hot. Hahahaha. Hey, do you remember Taylor Lautner? This is him now...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dk9y1oLwyMM/WomhD1gkxZI/AAAAAAAAyhs/ZZLua9BET0U-7-89EDmBydNXxmjfY_ceQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a1a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="305" data-original-width="303" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dk9y1oLwyMM/WomhD1gkxZI/AAAAAAAAyhs/ZZLua9BET0U-7-89EDmBydNXxmjfY_ceQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a1a.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Hahahahaha. That is sooo stupid. That's as stupid as...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R-MySICKol8/WomiSYnAmrI/AAAAAAAAyh8/OP0yg7TUBiQACuKKLCpQaNb_j2Y4J0yhQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a1d.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="500" height="241" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R-MySICKol8/WomiSYnAmrI/AAAAAAAAyh8/OP0yg7TUBiQACuKKLCpQaNb_j2Y4J0yhQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_a1d.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Christian Bale! Get it? Hahahaha. Alright, so if I had a TARDIS I would go back in time to the see of the <i>Batman</i> movie.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6bS-xdVfANs/Womi6aGsgvI/AAAAAAAAyiE/q68czmelkMw3zbupJRTu6KO2cJ2BJMC3wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1005" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6bS-xdVfANs/Womi6aGsgvI/AAAAAAAAyiE/q68czmelkMw3zbupJRTu6KO2cJ2BJMC3wCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3740.JPG" width="317" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>So, I was supposed to Google "<i>Sharknado</i>" but by accident I Googled "Sharknato" and this is what I got...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xVUnmwYNW-w/Womj-Ch44YI/AAAAAAAAyiQ/5JI8X-W5dWkUbC4RPX9SCoLSUEtATmcdACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a1e.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="1374" height="260" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xVUnmwYNW-w/Womj-Ch44YI/AAAAAAAAyiQ/5JI8X-W5dWkUbC4RPX9SCoLSUEtATmcdACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_a1e.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. You know, if you ever think you're having bad luck just think it could be worse. This could happen to you...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lkTR7_AQvmY/WomkZaYalxI/AAAAAAAAyiU/NAqef48HHusiG_CRco-Tb3hX9t8bYjwkQCLcBGAs/s1600/Mama_8cce7a_6467585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1200" height="297" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lkTR7_AQvmY/WomkZaYalxI/AAAAAAAAyiU/NAqef48HHusiG_CRco-Tb3hX9t8bYjwkQCLcBGAs/s400/Mama_8cce7a_6467585.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />That has actually happened to me before. It sucks. Ever notice technology is getting smaller and smaller? It's not just technology...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YqugD3_jH9g/WomlHPlKcdI/AAAAAAAAyis/HcFdcKpDyrkYCE1I7d63vwLfBF-aWI0qACLcBGAs/s1600/World_cebe56_6353489.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1007" data-original-width="1200" height="335" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YqugD3_jH9g/WomlHPlKcdI/AAAAAAAAyis/HcFdcKpDyrkYCE1I7d63vwLfBF-aWI0qACLcBGAs/s400/World_cebe56_6353489.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I can't stand marshmallows... I'd get a headache. So, you know I live in Florida, right? Well, some things happen in Florida that shouldn't happen nowhere else but they do.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ayhUVPoVDWE/WomnS78EWiI/AAAAAAAAyi4/9Qv3imR-Qy0nQWk5gfu7KG0YZ5FBoYlUwCLcBGAs/s1600/americas-wang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="1000" height="282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ayhUVPoVDWE/WomnS78EWiI/AAAAAAAAyi4/9Qv3imR-Qy0nQWk5gfu7KG0YZ5FBoYlUwCLcBGAs/s400/americas-wang.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />On Wednesday, 17 people were killed when a 19-year-old former student opened fire with a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. Many people watched the events unfold in horror, and expressed their anger at the inaction of lawmakers after such massacres, the Florida shooting being the 18th on school grounds this year. Fox News talking head Tomi Lahren was absolutely aghast that people would respond to a gun massacre with a plea to stop people from acquiring military-grade weapons. Yes. Take a deep breath. Won't somebody think of... the guns? A woman who identified as a student at Stoneman Douglas High School, Kyra, was not sympathetic to Lahren's sympathy towards the guns. Kyra said that not only is now the time to talk about guns, it's also too late for many. The tweet quickly went viral. Kyra's other tweets after the shooting are absolutely heartbreaking. She also responded to President Trump's reaction to the horror. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZoAIc_qbR2U/WomonGZGVEI/AAAAAAAAyjE/phvhej2JSHkKn7GIhxMD5tkiBo1-cI_aQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-18%2Bat%2B11.23.27%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="196" data-original-width="493" height="158" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZoAIc_qbR2U/WomonGZGVEI/AAAAAAAAyjE/phvhej2JSHkKn7GIhxMD5tkiBo1-cI_aQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-18%2Bat%2B11.23.27%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />She tweeted...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8b37wQIR2dM/Womowoe1d7I/AAAAAAAAyjI/Pmr_z8NaAgYe0K6OUbIJadTizPLjlhNEwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-18%2Bat%2B11.24.11%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="500" height="137" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8b37wQIR2dM/Womowoe1d7I/AAAAAAAAyjI/Pmr_z8NaAgYe0K6OUbIJadTizPLjlhNEwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-18%2Bat%2B11.24.11%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Another survivor, David Hogg, called on the government tasked with taking care of the people to do something to keep people safe.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VHUU229pips/WompV-o6nxI/AAAAAAAAyjU/qIVkaMPBfvsIgwFvLelg9g8eaHqOAPqSwCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VHUU229pips/WompV-o6nxI/AAAAAAAAyjU/qIVkaMPBfvsIgwFvLelg9g8eaHqOAPqSwCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rciXwg2epyI/WomqPqbRgZI/AAAAAAAAyjc/WP2Q4sSJA8gzgAde7zW4md5rP-xOBCEowCLcBGAs/s1600/The-Dark-Knight-movie-poster-mistake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1281" data-original-width="786" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rciXwg2epyI/WomqPqbRgZI/AAAAAAAAyjc/WP2Q4sSJA8gzgAde7zW4md5rP-xOBCEowCLcBGAs/s400/The-Dark-Knight-movie-poster-mistake.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><br />If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. So, everyone is talking about gun laws again because of the last mass shooting so I wondered what a friend of the Phile had to say. He's a singer, patriot and renaissance man. You know want time it is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ktcOnHdECUY/WomqmiRqFQI/AAAAAAAAyjg/xRmsCXw_dHoBvQW3bqHIgQYS2W6-jJatgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8ff.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1566" data-original-width="1400" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ktcOnHdECUY/WomqmiRqFQI/AAAAAAAAyjg/xRmsCXw_dHoBvQW3bqHIgQYS2W6-jJatgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8ff.jpeg" width="357" /></a></div><br />Good morning, phuckerz. Fact: NO gun law in place or to be enacted could EVER keep a gun out of the hands of a person with bad intentions in mind. I could make one phone call right now and have an illegal gun of my choosing delivered to my home in a half hour for anywhere between $200 and $500. Stronger gun laws and/or bans will ONLY keep guns out of the hands of Law Abiding Citizens NOT criminals or nut cases... because THEY don’t obey ANY laws. People are fucking morons. The only way gun control laws are going to protect you from guns is if you spray paint the words “Gun Control Laws” on your Kevlar bullet proof vest. We must understand one simple idea. If ONE building can be “secured” then they ALL can be. Why is it that we can secure and lock down banks, courts, prisons and federal buildings... but not schools? Try having the same screening processes and armed security at schools that we have at federal buildings. That would be a good start at keeping our kids safe... right? Wrong... we won’t do that because it’s not considered cost effective by the powers that be... the ones who decide how much money we spend on our broken education system in this country. This is not a game... this is the safety of our children. <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YQ9mxs9gbg0/WomtLxXWsZI/AAAAAAAAyjw/5PH9_BTkkigFSDQACYXIoA_RHmepaIoJwCLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="400" height="187" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YQ9mxs9gbg0/WomtLxXWsZI/AAAAAAAAyjw/5PH9_BTkkigFSDQACYXIoA_RHmepaIoJwCLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eV72csD1ZbI/WomtVfRk9FI/AAAAAAAAyj0/_R_1aenxN9cABUoXcQq0iTuvS-mtY9UlACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-18%2Bat%2B10.06.00%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="497" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eV72csD1ZbI/WomtVfRk9FI/AAAAAAAAyj0/_R_1aenxN9cABUoXcQq0iTuvS-mtY9UlACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-18%2Bat%2B10.06.00%2BAM.png" width="367" /></a></div><br />Hey, wanna play a game?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C-v8D--ZEOY/Womt0hgWCAI/AAAAAAAAykA/ACvHGkHLf94o4CLN7AXhfc3hsoUeYXkRQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9dc.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="390" height="390" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C-v8D--ZEOY/Womt0hgWCAI/AAAAAAAAykA/ACvHGkHLf94o4CLN7AXhfc3hsoUeYXkRQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9dc.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7c0hzblgkv0/WomuliSATjI/AAAAAAAAykM/w3O-UZ0kvuoVHyLMwPpjXWhYi43SE08RACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="199" height="311" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7c0hzblgkv0/WomuliSATjI/AAAAAAAAykM/w3O-UZ0kvuoVHyLMwPpjXWhYi43SE08RACLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_a25.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Which one is it? Potato or Amy? Hahaha.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-csCM5kbt9Gk/Womuwy1RbiI/AAAAAAAAykQ/qDCTg6y6UBkw2JeV6qJs37vlHy0XZcVxQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="583" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-csCM5kbt9Gk/Womuwy1RbiI/AAAAAAAAykQ/qDCTg6y6UBkw2JeV6qJs37vlHy0XZcVxQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div><br />Donald Trump allegedly had an extramarital affair with former Playmate of the Year Karen McDougal before he was elected, according to Ronan Farrow's new piece in the "New Yorker." The White House has already called the story "fake news" (surprise!), but in addition to speaking to McDougal, Farrow also got ahold of an eight-page, handwritten note that McDougal had given her friend, spilling all the details of her affair with Trump. In June 2006, Trump taped an episode of his show, "The Apprentice," at the Playboy Mansion. Afterwards, Hugh Hefner threw a pool party, and that's where Trump met McDougal. At the time, Trump was already married to Melania (née Knauss), and their young son, Barron, was just a few months old. But Trump didn't let that stop him from flirting so heavily with McDougal that a "Playboy" executive reportedly said, "Wow, he was all over you... I think you could be his next wife." Four days before the 2016 election, on November 4th, there was a story in the "Wall Street Journal" detailing how the publisher of the "National Enquirer," American Media, Inc., bought the rights to McDougal's story from her for $150,000. They never ran the story though, just bought the rights to it, which is not that surprising, given that the CEO and chairman of A.M.I., David Pecker, has called Donald Trump "a personal friend." Tabloids buying a story in order to bury it is apparently very common, and called a "catch and kill." McDougal didn't discuss the details of her alleged relationship with Trump with Farrow, because she was worried about violating the agreement she made with A.M.I. But she did say that she regretted signing the contract, telling Farrow, “It took my rights away. At this point I feel I can’t talk about anything without getting into trouble, because I don’t know what I’m allowed to talk about. I’m afraid to even mention his name.” You can read the whole fascinating story at the "New Yorker."<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nqY3elGyMJ4/Womwt_KR_LI/AAAAAAAAykk/pFVteODBoqMuRR3TXOIvsfmr5tuCwESywCLcBGAs/s1600/yoursign-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nqY3elGyMJ4/Womwt_KR_LI/AAAAAAAAykk/pFVteODBoqMuRR3TXOIvsfmr5tuCwESywCLcBGAs/s400/yoursign-41.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />The 75th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SyU7IYjUDV8/Womw5dRYSLI/AAAAAAAAyko/f0AqYeyncpQedKwDhv-TAhDxYkApG38cQCLcBGAs/s1600/41ZDq9ooueL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SyU7IYjUDV8/Womw5dRYSLI/AAAAAAAAyko/f0AqYeyncpQedKwDhv-TAhDxYkApG38cQCLcBGAs/s400/41ZDq9ooueL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />Bruce will be the guest on the Phile tomorrow. And now for some Batman...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7INQgC9AMDc/WomxQyQ4-JI/AAAAAAAAykw/HM2fKr67tH0jtED1dIe6OIsTBXvG3f6SQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7INQgC9AMDc/WomxQyQ4-JI/AAAAAAAAykw/HM2fKr67tH0jtED1dIe6OIsTBXvG3f6SQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Phact 1.</b> Christian Bale refused to play Batman if Robin appeared anywhere in the trilogy.<br /><br /><b>Phact 2.</b>&nbsp;Batman was created not just by Bob Kane, but also a partner, Bill Finger, who was never credited for anything Batman related until recently. He is responsible for the original ideas of the Batman’s persona, costume, Gotham, characters, etc.<br /><br /><b>Phact 3.</b> In 2011, two teenagers in Vancouver, Canada lured multiple pedophiles online by posing as a 15-year-old girl, only to show up at the meeting spot as Batman and the Flash to record them.<br /><br /><b>Phact 4. </b>The settlement that became Melbourne, Australia was founded by a guy named John Batman. Places named after him include Batman’s Hill, Batman Bridge, and Batman Park<br /><br /><b>Phact 5. </b>Also, Melbourne was originally called Batmania and its founding document is called Batman’s Treaty.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5i5bNx2Rj_Q/WomyIJsDzsI/AAAAAAAAyk8/z40WVQ6VQlMt0IZspWIze0TeAkUE2P47QCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_e.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="283" data-original-width="300" height="377" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5i5bNx2Rj_Q/WomyIJsDzsI/AAAAAAAAyk8/z40WVQ6VQlMt0IZspWIze0TeAkUE2P47QCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_e.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Holy interviews, Batman, this is so cool. Today's pheatured guest is an American actor and activist widely known for his portrayal of Robin, the sidekick of Batman (played by Adam West), in the television series "Batman" (1966–1968), its theatrical feature film, the 1977 Saturday Morning animated series "The New Adventures of Batman," "Legends of the Superheroes" and two animated feature films <i>Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders</i>&nbsp;and <i>Batman vs. Two-Face</i>. He also founded a charitable organization called Gentle Giants Rescue and Adoptions, Inc. Please welcome to the Phile... Burt Ward.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Swkx7SOGMAY/WomzLQKOWFI/AAAAAAAAylI/9Vj7zk4dK9oJef6MbU-6JaNWa7y0ryRPQCLcBGAs/s1600/26239492_371284403281842_5834526870771924563_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="834" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Swkx7SOGMAY/WomzLQKOWFI/AAAAAAAAylI/9Vj7zk4dK9oJef6MbU-6JaNWa7y0ryRPQCLcBGAs/s400/26239492_371284403281842_5834526870771924563_n.jpg" width="346" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Burt, welcome to the Phile, sir. I have been waiting so long to interview you. How are you?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Burt: </b>Hello, citizens! I'm great, Jason.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay, first off, I have to say I'm a HUGE fan of "Batman," the TV show, and wanted to be you when I was a kid. Now it's on DVD and Blu-ray and there's new movies out, and Batman '66 is all over the place. You must have good memories of the show, right?<br /><br /><b>Burt:</b> I have to congratulate you on the excellent taste of watching "Batman." We had a good time on "Batman." It was a terrific show to make, we shot 120 episodes, there were some of the best actors in the industry I had change to work with. It was a fantastic experience and of course for our audience and for children, my gosh, the hero worship they had, seeing Batman and Robin riding in the Batmobile, climbing walls, fighting heinous villains, surviving these horrific things these villains came up with. It was wild and crazy and for the adults it was nostalgia of the comic books. For the teenagers and college kids it was the double meaning the campy style of all the situations and suggestive things that we said and implied because they saw it on a a different level.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, I have to mention Adam West, my favorite Batman ever. He passed away last June, and shocked everybody. You were a close friend of his and worked with him on and off for over 50 years. How are you coping with his loss, sir?<br /><br /><b>Burt:</b> Better than you might think because Adam and I were very dear friends and I know him so well and I know he would't want anyone to be sad. He spent his entire life entertaining people and making people laugh. So I understand he'd want everybody to be happy, certainly it's a horrible loss and there's no question about it but he doesn't want anybody to be sad.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>When did you first meet Adam, Burt?<br /><br /><b>Burt: </b>Fifteen minutes before our screen test in July of 1965. We briefly spoke for about five to ten minutes before we went on stage to film the screen test and I'll tell you after a few minutes the two of us were laughing. We never stopped laughing for fifty years. We have the very same sense of humor but in a lot of ways we are opposite. All the great comic duos had tremendous differences. You got Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, all of the greats there was so much contrast and with Adam's case he was very blah, very low talking deliberate kind of like a Winston Churchill. I was kid that never grew up, still acting like a kid, talks fast, and the two of us together are the complete opposites in some ways that it makes for humor.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>The fans and myself loved you two as those characters, Burt, and you two are mostly known for those characters... was there any time in your "Batman" career that you had pressure on you that you always had to be Dick Grayson or Robin?<br /><br /><b>Burt:</b> Not really. I'll tell you... when we were in costume we were always in character, even when we did personal appearances. When we were in costume we were Batman and Robin. We preserved that for children and we just thought it was a good thing to do. When we weren't in costume we could be ourselves. Adam and I never felt any pressure whatsoever. I will tell you, I think what made our show so great was the fact of two things: we were the first television show in history to play with our audience. In other words if you watched a police show there was a crime scene and all that kind of stuff and seriousness. You watched a medical show and it was trying to save somebody's life, the situation comedies were a bunch of one liners that to me weren't funny on television. But with our show we were given the freedom and in the script where we used to say we put on our tights to put on the world. Adam and I we're given a tremendous freedom probably because there was so much action with explosions and effects with a crew of 80 plus guys on set. In theory very complicated situations were they had to focus on all of that stuff. Basically Adam and I were left alone to portray our characters as we saw fit. It was that freedom for us to be our wild and crazy selves that people picked up on. They saw what it was, it was natural, it wasn't an act. It was really us. People say to me all the time, "Well, gee, you know you know Adam so well... what was he really like when he wasn't in front of the camera?" I tell people he was EXACTLY THE SAME! He is that exactly and I'm the same way too.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Hahaha. I met him once at MegaCon here in Orlando and he gave me shit for wearing a Marvel t-shirt. Ha. You two got together and did an animated feature film called <i>Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders </i>and the sequel <i>Batman vs. Two-Face</i> which fans and myself are so excited about. What was it like to jump back into that role that you first did 50 years ago?<br /><br /><b>Burt: </b>Haha. I'll tell you a little secret... I never jumped out of the role. In other words, after making 7,000 personal appearances, meeting eight and half million people signing autographs for them over the last 50 years, we did a CBS Sunday movie of the week, we did "Legends of the Super Heroes," which were two TV specials... recently we did <i>Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders</i> which came out last November on DVD after a brief theatrical run, and our new movie <i>Batman vs. Two-Face</i>... it never really left. Even after other television shows we do like "The Simpsons" that we were on, we played Batman and Robin, "Futurerama," we played Batman and Robin. There was another one... "Robot Chicken" where not only did I play Robin I also played Burt Ward. I was the only actor who played myself and my character individually on the show. So, we had whole bunch of stuff that we never really left. We might not have been on prime time but we were doing television, movies, interviews... it keeps the characters alive. Plus all the merchandise...<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I have been a big fan of the show pretty much since the early 70s when I was four, living in England. It seems the show is as popular as ever now, with the merchandise and the show being released on Blu-ray. Why do you think the show is still popular?<br /><br /><b>Burt:</b> Because it reached so many people and it had something for everybody. Like I said, for kids hero worship, for adults the nostalgia of the comic books, for the teenagers and college kids the double meanings and insinuations... and now with our new movies they have taken all of the style that we did back in 1966, '67, '68, brought it forward, included some of the stuff that are in the Batman features, modernized it, and it is just as wild and crazy in today's world. That's why with our movie <i>Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders </i>was reviewed by virtually every critic I read as the best Batman feature realized in 2016. It got rave reviews for quality.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I read that you had to do your own stunts on the set of "Batman" and you got hurt quite a bit. Why did you have to do so many of your own stunts?<br /><br /><b>Burt: </b>Virtually just about every single stunt where there was filmed from waste up I had to do. Let me give you an example, from the first episode, the first day of filming, the famous scene where the Batmobile comes roaring out of there Batcave comes straight at the camera and makes a sharp left turn, the sign get down, the Batmobile, it pops up, Gotham City 14 miles... anyway, I went in for the first shot of me for the day in the series, the very first day of work for me, 7:30 in the morning, I go into this cold cave to the Batmobile, I look over expecting to see Batman, Adam West, and it wasn't, it was someone else dressed like Batman. And I asked him "Who are you?" and he said, "I'm a stunt man." I said, "Really? Why are you here?" He said, "Because this is a very dangerous stunt and nobody wants to take a chance of Adam West getting hurt." I said, "Well, I guess that's good. Wait a minute, if it's so dangerous why am I here? Don't I get a stunt man?" He said, "Sure. You have a stunt man." I said, "Oh, that's good. Where is he?" "He's outside there having coffee with Adam West." I said, "Wait a minute, there must be a mistake." I stopped as they were rolling up to do the filming, I called out to the assistant director who said, "What is it, Burt?" I said, "There is a terrible mistake here. You got a stunt man telling me this is a very dangerous stunt." He said, "Yes, that's true." I said, "How come I gotta be sitting here in this seat instead of you using the stunt man?" "Oh, we cannot use him." "Why not?" "Because he doesn't look like you." "Wait a minute. Why would you hire somebody to be my stunt man who doesn't look like me?" "We couldn't find anybody else." So everything that you could decently see that it was me I had to do it. So it came out at 55 mph, straight for the camera, the driver did a fantastic job making that incredibly sharp turn but my door flew open uncexpedictely and I nearly flew out of the car and I managed with a kind of a quick reaction to lean back with may rm and I wrapped my little finger around the gear shift... you could try a thousand times and never get it, but it kept me from falling out but it pulled my finger out of joint. It was incredibly painful, kicked the cameraman off his camera truck, knocked a big arc lamp over which could of caused a fire, as those were icredibly hot. Everybody rushed over and said, "Burt, are you okay?" I said, "Yes, but my hand is killing me." Even in the glove my finger had swelled up three times the size. They said, "Oh my God, it's out of joint, we are going to have to get you to the hospital." I said, "Okay, let me get out of the car. Where do I have to go to get to the hospital?" They said, "We can't get you to the hospital now." "What do you mean?" "We didn't get the shot." "But my hand is killing me." "We understand that, we are terribly sorry. We got 80 guys on this crew, it's costing us 35,000 dollars an hour... we gotta get this shot!" This was 7:30 in the morning and I finally go to the emergency room at the hospital about noon.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Hahaha. I heard you tell that story before but it's so funny. What else happened to you?<br /><br /><b>Burt:</b> Two by fours landed on my nose as I was tied down breaking my nose. Second degree burns from explosions. It was a really dangerous show.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I always loved the Batfights, Burt. Those were my favorite. Were those choreographed and rehearsed a lot?<br /><br /><b>Burt:</b> They were, but that's not the dangerous stuff. I'm a black belt in karate and let me tell youI love those fights. That was the least of my concerns. The kind of things that bothered me was when I was tied on a plank with a noose tied around me and my head was sticking over the edge of the plank, and I'm 14 feet above three wild Bengal tigers. These weren't trained animals, these were wild Bengal tigers that can jump 19 feet. These cats are looking up at me as this plank is being tilted down in their direction by Catwoman and just to give you a little inside here about 8 feet above me in a steel cage was the camera man and the director who were way above me, out of reach of the tigers. When they couldn't get the tigers to jump up at my face they hung meat over my head. Of course that made them jump up at my face. I was pulling against the bonds and afterwards they said it looked so real. What? Are you kidding?! It was real!<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay, Burt, do you have a favorite Batrap?<br /><br /><b>Burt:</b> I had many favorites but there was only one condition for them to be qualified as a favorite and that was when I survived the experience because it was dangerous. There were times when I thought that was it.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You said so many "holy..." lines throughout years... like "holy oversight," "holy headache," "holy Sherlock Holmes." Is there any that fans want you to say the most at conventions?<br /><br /><b>Burt: </b>Not specific ones. They ask me which are my favorite ones.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, which one is your favorite?<br /><br /><b>Burt:</b> Honestly, I didn't have a favorite. These were all designed to be appropriate to the situation. We were in a thing of jelly and I said, "holy strawberries."<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>The writing and the puns... or dad jokes... or Batjokes were great, weren't they? So, the show only lasted three years... that must of sucked, right?<br /><br /><b>Burt:</b> They did a terrific job. We loved making the show. Adam and I had a great time together. It was disappointing when it ended but we kinda carried the torch forward for a lot of years. I would go out and make appearances like recently I was in Dallas. There were 80,000 paid attendants that came to see me. Before that in Toronto, Canada a 160,000 paid attendants... it's huge! Constantly wherever I go they would sell out, the fire marshals would stop people from coming in, they would have to stand outside in a line til other people leave. The whole thing of "Batman" is still going great.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Alright, tell me about this new thing you are doing called Gentle Giants, Burt. You take care of dogs, right?<br /><br /><b>Burt: </b>We started with Great Danes Adoptions and Rescue and then people would come and bring a great dane that was mixed we would take it in and we finally said wait minute, we should our name to Gentle Giants. Now because we take little dogs, we'd pay for these dogs, we rescue these dogs, we pay for their food and medical and shelter, we found every one a safe loving home. But think of it this way... if we go to that much trouble to save these lives, we obviously want them to live as long as possible. Giant breed dogs traditionally only live 6 to 8 years and those that we didn't adopt fast enough we would lose one and my wife and I would literally cry. It effects us very, very much. So, we vowed if there was a way that we would find a way to help these dogs live longer. We developed a feeding and care program where we feed and care for dogs differently where other people do. You can all read about on our website and you readers can see how the dogs live til their late 20s. They're still active, running around like puppies, some of them are jumping in the air. The feeding and care added about three years to each dogs life.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You have your own dog food as well, right? Why is that?<br /><br /><b>Burt: </b>Yeah, the food was we got to a point where we averaged three years to a dog, but we would have to change the food. To be honest with you when we made out food and were designing it we thought if we used the best of the best all U.S.A. ingredients, the best highest quality cuts of meat and things, maybe we could pull out another year. Maybe two years... what happened was we found something that was so devastating it changed our lives forever. Here's what we found out... dog food companies know something the average person doesn't know which is the more fat content you put in dog food the hungrier it makes dogs. In our opinion it's all about money. For us who operate a non-profit charity my life and I don't make a dime from our dog food. Not a dime. But we made a food that is incredibly different from all the other dog food. We don't add fat to it to try and make dogs hungrier which in a way creates another problem because dogs love the taste and smell of meat not the smell and taste of fat. Dog food manufactures are forced to cover up the fat they out in by spraying a different kind of fat on the outside of the food dogs will eat. With Gentle Giants we don't add extra fat, whereas everybody else's 12 to 22 percent fat if you look at the guaranteed analysis on the back of the bag next to the ingredients. Ours is 9% because that's what's actually in the food... we insist dogs should live incredibly healthy and active lives until their late 20s. Our dogs are so healthy the only time we take them to the vet is every 3 years for the ten dollar rabies update. Can you imagine how much money would be saved by feeding them food that wouldn't cause problems?<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> The food is available at Walmart, right?<br /><br /><b>Burt: </b>Yeah, we went to Walmart and said we weren't going to take anything from this. We'd like to get it into peoples hands as inexpensively as possible.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What about if you put it in pet stores?<br /><br /><b>Burt: </b>They would sell a 33 pound for about 90 dollars. That same 33 pound bag in Walmart sells for 34 dollars. Our motto is "half the price, time the life."<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> That's cool. Thanks, Burt, for being on the Phile. I hope you'll come back again soon. Mention your website and everything.<br /><br /><b>Burt:</b> <a href="http://gentlegiantsrescue.com/">Gentlegiantsrescue.com</a>. Thank you, citizens, To the Batmobile!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WAagXFsc150/Wom5VYMDIsI/AAAAAAAAylY/TnfFynIUPMImmhQ21D9574CU1YN-SME1QCLcBGAs/s1600/15826695_938805516253783_371379378349843098_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WAagXFsc150/Wom5VYMDIsI/AAAAAAAAylY/TnfFynIUPMImmhQ21D9574CU1YN-SME1QCLcBGAs/s400/15826695_938805516253783_371379378349843098_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to my guests Laird Jim and of course Burt Ward. I have sooo many more questions for him so I hope to have him back here soon. The Phile will be back tomorrow with author and bass player Bruce Thomas. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2n7NHWHG3l4/Wom6mt6h2dI/AAAAAAAAylk/aie5gDhcJTUX2q6crEHfw56LIVvHawE3ACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a27.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="510" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2n7NHWHG3l4/Wom6mt6h2dI/AAAAAAAAylk/aie5gDhcJTUX2q6crEHfw56LIVvHawE3ACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_a27.jpeg" width="292" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="post-footer" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"></div><br /><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-3308895636494643833" itemprop="description articleBody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; orphans: auto; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; width: 586px; word-spacing: 0px;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i><div style="clear: both;"></div></div>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-33088956364946438332018-02-14T11:41:00.001-05:002018-02-14T11:41:40.178-05:00A Peverett Phile Valentine Pheaturing Alannah Myles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9dHDjYNwaoc/WoQ8-u7HXFI/AAAAAAAAyaw/D83ECvr7bvgi4mRjBDMAE6Gyn0qQ_H9tQCLcBGAs/s1600/jplogoval.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9dHDjYNwaoc/WoQ8-u7HXFI/AAAAAAAAyaw/D83ECvr7bvgi4mRjBDMAE6Gyn0qQ_H9tQCLcBGAs/s400/jplogoval.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hello</b>, everybody, welcome to the Phile for a Wednesday... it's Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day has become an obligatory holiday for everyone. If you're single, you're supposed to celebrate how miserable you are. If you're in a relationship, you must celebrate your love... which does not always go to plan. People forget the holiday, misread the situation, are thoughtless, or simply do not want to be dating their partner. Me? I'm just a tiny marshmallow bobbing along the hot cocoa river of love. Actually, hot cocoa gives me the shits so that could explain a lot. If you're alone a great way to deal with not having a Valentine's date is moving to a country that doesn't celebrate Valentine's Day. I hope you're having a good week so far, better than Olympic analyst Joshua Cooper Ramo. NBC fired one of its Olympics analysts after his comments during the opening ceremony offended Koreans. Former NBC Olympic analyst Joshua Cooper Ramo decided to dig up the old wounds of Japan's occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945, which the "Washington Post" notes was a period in which the Japanese army enslaved Korean females as "comfort women." "Every Korean will tell you that Japan is a cultural, technological and economic example that has been so important to their own transformation," Ramo remarked during the show. This prompted thousands of Koreans to angrily "Actually..." "Any reasonable person familiar with the history of Japanese imperialism, and the atrocities it committed before and during World War II, would find such statement deeply hurtful and outrageous," the petition read. "And no, no South Korean would attribute the rapid growth and transformation of its economy, technology, and political/cultural development to the Japanese imperialism." NBC apologized, but initially kept Ramo on. After more criticism, he was told to sashay away. The first rule of Olympics coverage... don't anger the host country with offensive comments attributing their entire success to military occupation by another country.<br /><b>There</b> are three giant penis statues outside Olympic Village. "Penis statues" is an understatement. These are statues of giant penises with human bodies that also have their own penises. Got it? Penises-with-penises statues. To help you visualize...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VKII6WFRl4E/WoQ_t4n43SI/AAAAAAAAybI/2rIdPdFeRVYKWrXgkzIHWUgl_F9WVhK-QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-14%2Bat%2B8.53.11%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="497" height="298" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VKII6WFRl4E/WoQ_t4n43SI/AAAAAAAAybI/2rIdPdFeRVYKWrXgkzIHWUgl_F9WVhK-QCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-14%2Bat%2B8.53.11%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />The installment is called Bullet Man, was installed in Pyeongchang in 2009, and is reportedly meant to symbolize "the human desire for a cool body, wealth, honor with a concrete image." But what it's come to symbolize is: a new meme. People are putting their talents to good use. Some are embodying the statues themselves. "Penis head man" has even been made into latte art. And LEGO art. And this person got out their crochet kit and <i>crocheted the penis statue meme</i>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1wIG7WxU5jE/WoRAeqYUpUI/AAAAAAAAybQ/v5uQEKTsrnMucNvcoqF7E5M2fTwuAK0TQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-14%2Bat%2B8.57.55%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="477" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1wIG7WxU5jE/WoRAeqYUpUI/AAAAAAAAybQ/v5uQEKTsrnMucNvcoqF7E5M2fTwuAK0TQCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-14%2Bat%2B8.57.55%2BAM.png" width="239" /></a></div><br />The penis statues have inspired some impressive art across a whole range of genres. Isn't technology great?<br /><b>Two</b> days ago a letter postmarked from Boston arrived at Donald Trump Jr.'s apartment that contained a suspicious white powder. Don Jr.'s wife, Vanessa Trump, opened the letter, and was quite reasonably afraid of the white stuff and went to the hospital, along with two other people. Thankfully, everyone's okay. The substance was quickly ruled to be non-hazardous, and NBC News today reported that it "appeared to contain corn starch, senior law enforcement officials said." NBC News also learned from law enforcement officials that the note allegedly said, "You are an awful, awful person. I am surprised that your father lets you speak on TV. You the family idiot. Eric looks smart. This is the reason why people hate you. You are getting what you deserve. So shut the fuck up." The sender was clearly deranged, seeing as they called Eric smart. I kid, I kid. Sending threatening letters (with or without corn starch) is never okay. Nobody should be subjected to such threats, especially not in their own homes where their kids live. To all the crazies out there... stick to getting your anger out on Twitter like the rest of us, including the president.<br /><b>In </b>the latest "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit issue, some women have swapped swimsuits for words. As part of an art project called "In Her Own Words," the magazine invited athletes and models to paint words on their bodies they want to promote and represent. Aly Raisman has long been an inspiration for women and girls throughout her Olympic career, and has increasingly wowed the world with her victim impact statement at Larry Nassar's sentencing hearing and her statements criticizing the officials who enabled him. She wears her survivor status with pride, sporting the word across her chest. Raisman shared a shot from the shoot on her personal Instagram.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j1LnnXahFUg/WoRCl-xC7uI/AAAAAAAAybc/_BOXkreHM8EW9tC8R2f3n_QL_vb48JknACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-14%2Bat%2B9.06.43%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="586" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j1LnnXahFUg/WoRCl-xC7uI/AAAAAAAAybc/_BOXkreHM8EW9tC8R2f3n_QL_vb48JknACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-14%2Bat%2B9.06.43%2BAM.png" width="360" /></a></div><br />"I would like to remind everyone that being a survivor is nothing to be ashamed of, and going through a hard time does not define you," Raisman told "Sports Illustrated." "We are not alone and we need each other."<br /><b>A</b> man's offensive racist rant went viral after being caught on film, but karma took care of him when he was punched in the face by a bystander. According to BuzzFeed, Jeanne Heo was riding the red line metro in Los Angeles when a man approached her and asked if she was tired. Heo initially ignored the man, but he was persistent in his questioning. He then asked if she was American, to which she replied "yes." After she got off the train, the man followed her and continued berating her with questions, eventually asking "Where are your genetics from? Are you Korean?" When Heo continued to ignore the harasser, he went on an unhinged racist rant. Then Heo pulled out her camera and started filming him, "Fuck you, go back to Asia," said the man while flipping off the 29-year-old. "Let's nuke you, Trump, god bless Trump, we're going to nuke you guys," he continued. At the end of the video, you can see the man start to walk off. But after the camera stopped rolling he was met with the fist of justice. No, literally a fist. A bystander who observed the entire incident from the time Heo was on the train punched the man in the face, Heo told Buzzfeed, "Look, violence is never the answer, but at the same time..." The man who stepped in was African-American, which prompted the racist dude to spew even more hateful rhetoric and racial slurs. Heo recalls hearing the man say, "Get back in your cage, you niggers are all the same." BuzzFeed reports that L.A. Police Department called the incident a "verbal disagreement" and that "no crime has been committed."<br /><b>You</b> know what's sad? When your milk has a day on Valentine's Day and you don't...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ci-_zqgUPRU/WoRGieZa1jI/AAAAAAAAybo/zMrJxFOnU8I2Dv-HseikbQQpz2aQo9fRQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-14%2Bat%2B9.23.16%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="473" height="218" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ci-_zqgUPRU/WoRGieZa1jI/AAAAAAAAybo/zMrJxFOnU8I2Dv-HseikbQQpz2aQo9fRQCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-14%2Bat%2B9.23.16%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />If I had a TARDIS I would go back in time and try to meet Winston Churchill. Knowing my luck though he would be surrounded by Frenchmen... liberated Frenchmen who some will light his cigar but still...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LlgFD9lmoHY/WoRJfuz9qrI/AAAAAAAAyb0/uQSQMG66kI4P-6fatYP3v7nMzTMX0ImdACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a0a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="678" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LlgFD9lmoHY/WoRJfuz9qrI/AAAAAAAAyb0/uQSQMG66kI4P-6fatYP3v7nMzTMX0ImdACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_a0a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />So, the other day I was supposed to Google "kangaroo" and instead Googled "mangaroo" and this is what I found...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lmz_xUsBr0I/WoRKyLjz0fI/AAAAAAAAycA/ORHb1wAvCfsB5gO11XpOBentUVwm-sKuwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a0c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="1192" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lmz_xUsBr0I/WoRKyLjz0fI/AAAAAAAAycA/ORHb1wAvCfsB5gO11XpOBentUVwm-sKuwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_a0c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. So, some people are just rotten people in the world. Take a look at this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ySFNR2ttymw/WoRLqhwP42I/AAAAAAAAycQ/imsRlWfsP10nUbe6p_lAhqHk_SKhU0tBACLcBGAs/s1600/jwj-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ySFNR2ttymw/WoRLqhwP42I/AAAAAAAAycQ/imsRlWfsP10nUbe6p_lAhqHk_SKhU0tBACLcBGAs/s400/jwj-2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>What an asshole. If you're having a bad day, people, it could be worse...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5pDKQ3NY_eg/WoRMAj12YYI/AAAAAAAAycU/eMXrDjIu0p0y6DpScmPLZn5u4OWhk0WFwCLcBGAs/s1600/Mama_d8d6e6_6467585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5pDKQ3NY_eg/WoRMAj12YYI/AAAAAAAAycU/eMXrDjIu0p0y6DpScmPLZn5u4OWhk0WFwCLcBGAs/s400/Mama_d8d6e6_6467585.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. So, with the Olympics there are some Olympians worth watching the games for because they are very attractive. Like Silje Norendal from Norway.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o3w4GY07MzY/WoROqmJnbhI/AAAAAAAAycw/IFXGl9R-6P4YV8SpGsbUi4myzV6tEYQJQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-14%2Bat%2B9.54.54%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="481" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o3w4GY07MzY/WoROqmJnbhI/AAAAAAAAycw/IFXGl9R-6P4YV8SpGsbUi4myzV6tEYQJQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-14%2Bat%2B9.54.54%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />See what I mean. So, did you know there's a Valentine's Day logo for singles? No? Well...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_6sXR5Bziw0/WoRMr34POMI/AAAAAAAAyck/_jktNgS-6oIYxyXDBVo6KeWVH7_aVyGMgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a0d.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="718" height="298" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_6sXR5Bziw0/WoRMr34POMI/AAAAAAAAyck/_jktNgS-6oIYxyXDBVo6KeWVH7_aVyGMgCLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_a0d.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />There you go. Ha. So, my son and I were talking about how we used to watch "Sesame Street" when he was little. I am glad he's not little now as that show sure has changed.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PU9jb-al8aw/WoRPE4k-2KI/AAAAAAAAyc0/ZwTF6lEBac0pEOY_odgd4MJs4NrXk_NUQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_7e.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="386" height="248" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PU9jb-al8aw/WoRPE4k-2KI/AAAAAAAAyc0/ZwTF6lEBac0pEOY_odgd4MJs4NrXk_NUQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_7e.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W86e-6czCj0/WoRP_mwAg1I/AAAAAAAAydI/jU8398kIo8sit875Y95eWuY70O0F8y7IACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a0e.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="250" height="299" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W86e-6czCj0/WoRP_mwAg1I/AAAAAAAAydI/jU8398kIo8sit875Y95eWuY70O0F8y7IACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_a0e.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Bert just didn't see the appeal. But if bathing in Stalin's sperm was on Ernie's bucket list, far be ir from him to judge.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GiddSBypRic/WoRQPXty8SI/AAAAAAAAydQ/HT2J0p78ALcJivNSBMLz_nH0UOSYBJHJwCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GiddSBypRic/WoRQPXty8SI/AAAAAAAAydQ/HT2J0p78ALcJivNSBMLz_nH0UOSYBJHJwCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4AkknyFDFIk/WoRQaRcwQFI/AAAAAAAAydU/5ltqgfKM_1Q2_4w5oRjWEiEam9H9zYdrgCLcBGAs/s1600/C1iXGraWIAAN8c5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4AkknyFDFIk/WoRQaRcwQFI/AAAAAAAAydU/5ltqgfKM_1Q2_4w5oRjWEiEam9H9zYdrgCLcBGAs/s400/C1iXGraWIAAN8c5.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. So, a "friend" of the Phile wants to address Trump's silence on domestic abuse victims here on the Phile. She hasn't been here in awhile, which is a good thing. Anyway, here she is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OdC5DDs9Huo/WoRSQtEODCI/AAAAAAAAydo/2w1e-eofYukwtWLgwuiX8dSKrcm2DDRjQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_547.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="544" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OdC5DDs9Huo/WoRSQtEODCI/AAAAAAAAydo/2w1e-eofYukwtWLgwuiX8dSKrcm2DDRjQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_547.jpeg" width="323" /></a></div><br /><b>Sarah:</b> Oh, my darling, oh, my darling, oh my darling... Clementine. Hello, Jason.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Hello, Sarah... so, I guess the White House is still reeling from the Rob Porter scandal.<br /><br /><b>Sarah: </b>Hmmm... maybe.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Well, in case you missed it it is this... Sigh. "The Daily Mail" and "The Intercept" reported that (now former) White House staff secretary Rob Porter allegedly beat both of his ex-wives, and they had photos. The White House defended him. It was reported that the FBI was aware of this, and refused to grant him security clearance. The White House kept him anyway. "The Washington Post" added that White House counsel Don McGahn knew the people's house was harboring a domestic abuser with a restraining order against him. The White House counsel kept him anyway. Chief of Staff John Kelly learned about Porter's abuse in the fall. He let him work in the West Wing anyway.<br /><br /><b>Sarah:</b> Jason, let me take this opportunity to write a new timeline of the White House responses. I insist that Trump supports victims of domestic violence, even though he has never publicly said anything to that effect.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Exactly.<br /><br /><b>Sarah: </b>President Trump believes a “mere allegation” shouldn’t be a “determining factor” for any individual and supports due process in any allegation.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>But if it's not on Twitter, did it really happen?<br /><br /><b>Sarah:</b> President Trump "dictated" a statement saying he supports domestic violence victims.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> President Trump has repeatedly said he relies on Twitter to make sure he can speak directly to the world about important issues.<br /><br /><b>Sarah:</b> Trump's tweet after the matter was clearly on the side of the accused. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mN_yjLTRmkU/WoRUpHQPHII/AAAAAAAAyd0/mvMIAxVi5SIrLeusLuNhu5zrY-3MTi0WQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-14%2Bat%2B10.22.13%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="492" height="192" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mN_yjLTRmkU/WoRUpHQPHII/AAAAAAAAyd0/mvMIAxVi5SIrLeusLuNhu5zrY-3MTi0WQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-14%2Bat%2B10.22.13%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Sarah, why the president isn't taking the opportunity to voice support for victims?<br /><br /><b>Sarah:</b> I'm the spokesperson, so he's speaking through me. Okay? Okay.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> If you feel like you're going insane because you recall the White House defending Rob Porter even after the photos of his ex-wife's black eye were published, you're not going insane. The White House really did defend Rob Porter after photos of his ex-wife's black eye were published.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-szrZMFZEVv0/WoRVRDP3OhI/AAAAAAAAyd8/D_SdwS82f5MJClldGPFVAjOHSRZ9H7UXACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-14%2Bat%2B10.26.42%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="495" height="230" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-szrZMFZEVv0/WoRVRDP3OhI/AAAAAAAAyd8/D_SdwS82f5MJClldGPFVAjOHSRZ9H7UXACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-14%2Bat%2B10.26.42%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Why does the White House have people working with classified documents despite not having permanent security clearance into an attack on the press?<br /><br /><b>Sarah:</b> If you have real concerns about leaking out classified information, the press are the ones that publish classified information and put national security at risk. Good-bye, Jason.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Bye, Sarah. Sarah Huckleberry Sanders, everyone. That was so annoying.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qrsE1pR9HqM/WoRWZVk2E8I/AAAAAAAAyeI/oO9JBeDjcVEgk1-4DEk3OWRgeqn6x7giQCLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="400" height="187" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qrsE1pR9HqM/WoRWZVk2E8I/AAAAAAAAyeI/oO9JBeDjcVEgk1-4DEk3OWRgeqn6x7giQCLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T5-4fPN2G0E/WoRWi3NjB0I/AAAAAAAAyeM/YAOr76JBjPoBy0vIQAO_Z5c7hg4F74zKACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9ff.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T5-4fPN2G0E/WoRWi3NjB0I/AAAAAAAAyeM/YAOr76JBjPoBy0vIQAO_Z5c7hg4F74zKACLcBGAs/s640/fullsizeoutput_9ff.jpeg" width="360" /></a></div><br />And now for some sad news.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2CoLtydquEs/WoRYA3reqKI/AAAAAAAAyec/IyCbidKqhjUf6oKfLEkVjhsrx9XjF2sdwCLcBGAs/s1600/again.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2CoLtydquEs/WoRYA3reqKI/AAAAAAAAyec/IyCbidKqhjUf6oKfLEkVjhsrx9XjF2sdwCLcBGAs/s400/again.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Marty Allen&nbsp;</b><br />March 23rd, 1922 — February 12th, 2018<br />Most people know him as the Darling of Daytime TV, but fewer people know him by his other nickname... the Freak with the Weird Hairdo.<br /><br /><b>Vic Damone&nbsp;</b><br />June 12th, 1928 — February 11th, 2018<br />Tzena, Tzena, Tzena.<br /><br /><b>John Gavin&nbsp;</b><br />February 9th, 2018<br />His first big break was <i>Imitation of Life</i>. So, um, yeah.<br /><br /><b>Wally Moon&nbsp;</b><br />April 3rd, 1930 — February 9th, 2018<br />He batted left-handed and threw right-handed... which explains why he didn't have a free hand to take care of that uni-brow.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_kvAnmomlT8/WoRZHVEOb1I/AAAAAAAAyeo/xiyH6iazqeEQnNyucofBVJGePOHpZbaxwCLcBGAs/s1600/yoursign-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_kvAnmomlT8/WoRZHVEOb1I/AAAAAAAAyeo/xiyH6iazqeEQnNyucofBVJGePOHpZbaxwCLcBGAs/s400/yoursign-41.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />The 75th book to be phaeatured in the Phile's Book Club is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HxSTMCi30-Q/WoRZTue9nGI/AAAAAAAAyes/M18ZJh8sp2QTf63gKwdS0cQc5uhWequ8ACLcBGAs/s1600/41ZDq9ooueL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HxSTMCi30-Q/WoRZTue9nGI/AAAAAAAAyes/M18ZJh8sp2QTf63gKwdS0cQc5uhWequ8ACLcBGAs/s400/41ZDq9ooueL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />Bruce will be the guest on the Phile on Monday. And now for some Valentine's Day...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ANyHBb4QBJc/WoRZosA8F4I/AAAAAAAAye0/H0t_ReLsgOwsPFX-Gbzqku98rGWGOau1QCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ANyHBb4QBJc/WoRZosA8F4I/AAAAAAAAye0/H0t_ReLsgOwsPFX-Gbzqku98rGWGOau1QCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Phact 1. </b>Valentine’s Day is the day that Saint Valentine was beheaded for supporting soldiers getting married.<br /><br /><b>Phact 2.</b> India celebrates Children’s Day on November 14th, exactly 9 months after Valentine’s Day.<br /><br /><b>Phact &nbsp;3.</b> In Japan women give chocolates to men on Valentine’s Day and the men reciprocate it a month later for White Day.<br /><br /><b>Phact 4. </b>Americans used to send mean and insulting cards to each other on Valentine’s Day.<br /><br /><b>Phact 5. </b>A festival practiced in ancient Rome is thought to be the origins of Valentine’s Day where men would sacrifice goats and make whips from their skin while women would line up to receive lashes as a fertility ritual and to ease childbirth pains.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KwNxRtBsHTE/WoRbdgGsrII/AAAAAAAAyfE/R-1zdbwlGAIBhICt_OOdZgC0jud7_HFlgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a0f.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="400" height="383" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KwNxRtBsHTE/WoRbdgGsrII/AAAAAAAAyfE/R-1zdbwlGAIBhICt_OOdZgC0jud7_HFlgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_a0f.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today's guest is a Canadian singer-songwriter whose most well-known for her number-one classic rock hit, "Black Velvet". Her latest album "85 bpm" is available on Amazon, iTunes and Spotify. Please welcome to the Phile... Alannah Myles.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2boXIznsrsc/WoRcwvR-9FI/AAAAAAAAyfQ/O36lt3_SF6EXkyStqMHsYPP2oTWlJNUGgCLcBGAs/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2boXIznsrsc/WoRcwvR-9FI/AAAAAAAAyfQ/O36lt3_SF6EXkyStqMHsYPP2oTWlJNUGgCLcBGAs/s320/11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hey, Alannah, welcome to the Phile. How are you?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> Hey, I'm good. Just be warned... I'm very flippant and I'll say anything. Don't ask me anything about about money. For years I was in begrudgedment because I wasn't paid.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Alright. I won't. So, if anyone wonders where you have been all these years, Alannah, you are still popular in Germany of all places. Do you go over there a lot?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> The Germans... they would laugh at me. They don't understand how an artist that sold over 10 million records is broke and doesn't have two sticks to rub together. All their fucking artists are so protected.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, you're from Canada, right? What do you think or did think of the American record companies?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> American record companies tend to be, because it's so large and such a huge territory, everyone wants to break it. Everyone is more focused on the Grammys, being on the "Billboard" number one, and so basically America crawled up its own butt about fifteen years ago when the industry started to slide. There was no turning back, they mistreated their artists, they not paid them properly. Some of them got paid not at all. Do you know the story about Corey Hart? He did not make a dime from all his records. Not a fucking dime! He made money from the publishing from the songs he wrote but he didn't make any sales money. He was 18-years-old when he signed the deal, and although he had a lawyer when he signed the deal... an inexperienced lawyer, there's a statue of limitations that lasted only 2 years. It normally takes about five years for artists to realize they didn't get their fair shake. They go "wait a minute" but it's too late. You have to speak up within the two years you sign the contract otherwise you get nothing and go back to the land of legal.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, you are known for the number one song "Black Velvet," which is a great song. That song must've changed your life, am I right?<br /><br /><b>Alannah: </b>Maybe. They put 80 million dollars into me and even after spending 20 million to really put it out there I still paid back 7 million dollars for the expenses it cost to make the record 18 years later. I'll never want to sign another deal with a major record company again. I never made a penny... not a dime.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Alannah, you were pretty successful back in the day. How do you think that happened?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> If you love something and give it nothing but love and it's a good quality and all the choices and music you put into it it's usually done by more heads than one. I think the triad is what made me successful... three people with great ideas combining their resources to create one great idea. There's a good thing about the triad, like Led Zeppelin which is four people but there's been many. Rush is a triad. AC/DC was a triad. Let's say George Martin was one and the Beatles was another. There's many reasons why, it's a key.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, you're from Canada and I like to ask all my Canadian guests if they are fans of one of my favorite bands... Barenaked Ladies. Are you a fan of there's?<br /><br /><b>Alannah: </b>Yeah, they're pretty successful, and are rich but should be richer. They probably were treated bad. They are not on a major label anymore, they have their own label.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Is there a difference with the Canadian music business than the American business?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> I assure you that there are Americans who I am in good company, like Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin... they've been treated the same way. It's just they have great people and in any court of law it's arguable that Atlantic needed to pay them what they deserved, so they settled. They didn't settle, let's just say they went back and renegotiated. In my case when I'm considered a one-hit wonder I don't have a leg to stand on so there's no use in fighting it. I and a production deal which was eight albums long and had twenty different clauses that prevented me from getting out of that deal. I'm that everyone that got out of that deal. I couldn't have done it without the help of Miles Copland who ripped me from Atlantic. If you made a deal before 1990 before their was digital airplay a lot of artists, myself included, got to go back and renegotiate their contacts. I think it was started by Gordon Lightfoot in Canada as he was on an American label... Warner Bros., and he wasn't paid for the records he was owed and I think he and some other artists did a class action suit. And now I see a substantial increase in the points percentage based on what's there. Whether I think it's fair or not, personally I think it's highway robbery, it's better than the crap they dealt me since I started making royalty checks.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, what do you think of the song "Black Velvet"? It still was the song that kinda changed you, you can't deny that, right?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> The thing with "Black Velvet" is its got legs. I'll be okay. I won't be a multi-millionaire from one song but I'll be okay. That is of course until something breaks. If it gets put into some big-ass movie, suddenly it's a song young folks are singing. The next thing I know the royalties wind up back over to me.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> My son loves the song and know it from "Grand Theft Auto." Anyway, after the first album you came out with the album "Rockinghorse" which has one of my favorite album covers ever. I have to show it here...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f3EIXtsDajI/WoRfAz0x9GI/AAAAAAAAyfc/Ex1np0r9PPgfZL_fwGO3Y6fkRHGv-pieQCLcBGAs/s1600/1_1_9256439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f3EIXtsDajI/WoRfAz0x9GI/AAAAAAAAyfc/Ex1np0r9PPgfZL_fwGO3Y6fkRHGv-pieQCLcBGAs/s320/1_1_9256439.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Was it a different experience with that album, Alannah?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> I was stressed to the nines and so no money coming. I didn't realized it didn't come until the third record when I had to borrow some bucks in my tank to go to the studio and record my record. This is why I didn't do interviews for a long time, because I didn't want gripe. I wasn't for the fame, I didn't get the money.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, I love the newest album, "85 bpm," which has a THREE new version of "Black Velvet." This must make you a little bit happy, am I right?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> It all works out. I'm very happy now with what I created and very happy with the body of work. It's not just one song. People can call me a one-hit wonder as much as they like... their fools and don't know any better. It's just sticks and stones. I don't really care because I'm sure about the choices that I made. Twenty-eight years later people are still listening and going wow. I have eyes, I see what I did, it's great. I'm very proud.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Good. You had ten or more hits in Canada, am I right?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> Actually, only about six top 40 hits in Canada. "Black Velvet" wasn't a number one hit there, just "Lover of Mine" was a number one hit from the first record and "Song Instead of a Kiss" from the second album. What happened then is Madonna ripped me off with her "Rain" video and people were like "Alannah who?" What can you do? I'm not the only one that Madonna stole from. I'm sure there are many artists out there. Kudos to her for doing it better. They say imitation if the highest form of flattery.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Who are your influences, who did you listen to growing up in Canada?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> When I wrote "Song Instead of a Kiss" I went to Joni Mitchell who was having lunch in Santa Monica. She was my idol. My engineer sat there with his mouth gaping open. I told him to close his mouth or I wasn't gonna eat with him. He said he'll close my mouth if I go over to her. So I went over to her and interrupted her in the middle of her soup. She had the soup slurping half way in her mouth and I gushed telling her she was my idol, blah blah blah, I told her I dedicated a song on my record to her because I stole it from her. I wanted to put the sadness of her song "Blue" in my song. To me that's the saddest song. I just weep every time I hear it. it's just so sad. It's about great, great love that can never be.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, do you live in Canada still, Alannah?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> I live in the Colonies... Canada. Still Toronto.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, your music career when on a break for quite a few years. Why did that happen, Alannah?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> I can't say that, I'm saving to for the book. I can't tell you that because to much people might not like me saying the actual god knows truth and they'll deny it, sue me, or maybe worse. It's a pretty nasty story and it's heartbreaking.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Alright, we won't go into it then. You mentioned Miles Copeland helping you, Alannah. How and why did that happen?<br /><br /><b>Alannah: </b>I asked for a bail out, I went with Miles Copeland and he saved me from the label as they were no longer gonna support me and I got out when I could get out. I saw Atlantic was a corrupt place to be and the people that were the cause of my ruin were all gone... they all went off to other labels. But that doesn't mean they can't hurt me.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, what was he like to work with?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> He was an amazing qualifier. He was so interesting, I really liked his heart. He never made any decisions with money for me, so we didn't make any, but... he got me off that label. He offered to but the album, as he didn't want them to hold me back. They said they'll give it the best shot, but they did nothing. However, long story short, they didn't do anything, nothing happened, no support came, the chips were down. I was ready to pack up my bags, the new people didn't get it, the old people had gone, they did a fair shake leaving there was no business for Alannah. That point when the record failed Miles went in there and said, "You promised me that you'd work this record, now I want the record and I want her back." Now, he couldn't get my royalties back because that's contractual. They had all that etched in stone. But he got me out of the deal so I could go work with him. But that record died because being a big fish in a small pond, there were many angry and jealous people in the small pond that would eat the bigger fish.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Did you ever think about suing Atlantic, or anybody else?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> Only people like Taylor Swift sue, as she has money to do it. People who don't have money or have questionable financing don't have the money to sue. If they do they are very brave people because it can all go down the chute with one court case.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> When you weren't making music what did you do?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> I toured. I would set a gig overseas in Germany or Switzerland. I couldn't make money in Canada as it was too much land to cover and not enough people here to cover the cost of admission. I would make sure that my flights were covered and I would get my band there and I would work it out where I'll make enough money or I'll take a gig where I would hire a band in Germany, rehearse and come back with some money in my pocket or whatever. I would go away every month to do my gigs in Europe and come back and pay my rent and have the Germans laugh at me. They were not sympathetic at all.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Your dad was a legend in Canadian broadcasting, right? What did he think of your career? Was he able to help you?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> Not really, no. I did go my mother and said can I borrow money for gas but there was no family wealth that administered my way. If I was in trouble, yes, I would be helped. If I was really starving, but I never lived on death's door. My mom is still alive... she's 99-years-old.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Wow. My parents both passed away in 2000. Tell the readers who your dad was.<br /><br /><b>Alannah: </b>It's so embarrassing, Jason, because people don't believe me, they think I'm making it up. My father invented hockey night in Canada... he invented hockey for TV with an American and a Brit. He was the first broadcaster in Canada and probably the first millionaire in creative arts in Canada. He was in the media reps business before he made his money. He was in working in an advertising agency up until the onset of TV in the 50s, when radio had switched over to television. He had all his contacts in radio... he had three soup clients, Lever Brothers, Palmolive, Ivory or somebody else. Three soap companies all vying for his attention art director. He found away to make them all happy by taking three cameras, and recognizing how popular hockey was on a regional level, made it go national on CTV television which was on his property. They rented the property from him where their tower was. He put the three soap cameras on billboards and filmed them, as he needed advertising. My mom and dad came from poor immigrant families, fresh off the boat. My father was self made, and my mother was his wife and he loved her. He'll be 101-years-old now if he lived now. He was the most modest man you'd ever meet. I wrote his page on Wikipedia but they pulled it as it didn't come from me, it didn't come from anybody official.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>My dad was the lead singer in Foghat. I wrote his Wikipedia page, and they didn't pull it. Hahaha. I didn't know you played guitar, Alannah, until I saw pictures of you with a guitar. How young were you when you started playing guitar and singing?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Alannah: </b>When I was about 12-years-old I was learning on my mother's guitar that had a wide-neck, and I was learning to play my little folky songs. I was always practicing and singing, and my father was a show biz dad. He would snap his fingers and say, "Okay, pay for the hay." because he had horses. There was Norman Jewison, sitting in our living room and me as a little girl singing "Jesus Christ Superstar" to the guy that had written it. Norman Jewison would become a renowned director, but would never hire me or a bit part or anything. I called him once and stupidly didn't ask him if he'd direct a video for me, but does he have a student who would. I'm Canadian, I didn't have the balls to ask him if he'd do it. He was insured, he would of done it tomorrow.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I love your song, "Bad 4 You." That song rocks, Alannah. Was that song successful and did you write it?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> Thanks. It was co-written with Eric Bazillian who wrote "If God Was One Of Us," and had a huge successful career. I wrote the song with two successful writers, had a sexy video but the head of Much Music said we can't play that video because it's too sexy for a video, Meanwhile there's a Chris Isaak video with a girl practically going down on him. But mine's too sexy for Canadian video? Clearly it was just a grudge from the woman involved that she buried my video. All Miles could say was, "Alannah, I didn't know what the hell you did up in Canada..." Record companies were going out of business left right and center, he had how one personal record label and he didn't have the finances from Universal that he aligned his property with so I took the hit with him and went down. I have to say that Miles gave me back the record, "A Rival" last year. The rights and everything, it's mine. Bless his sweet heart, I'm forever indebted to him for doing the right thing. He believed in me probably more than he believed in Sting. I once read his notes, I was having a meeting with him in his living room at his home in London, and I saw his notes that said something like "what the hell can I do with Alannah Myles? Sting is a wooden Indian compared to Alannah Myles... what the hell?" That's all I remember. That was his personal notes to himself saying what the hell am I doing wrong with this artist.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, would you be bad for me? Haha. What was the inspiration for that song?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> I was at one of of the towers at Myles' castle in France and I was writing with Eric Bazillian and Desmond Childs, and I said it was great they thought I was bad for all these men, but you have to give me some kind of respect, you can't just give me a song that says I'm bad for you. Give me something good, there has to be something in it saying I could do good for you. They got really mad at me for actually having a songwriters opinion and they had a nerve to tell me something about being a one-hit wonder, and insulting me. Clearly I wasn't involved in this songwriting session and I was just had to just my mouth. I wasn't gonna get what I was asking for, I was so insulted I literally went up and kissed him on the side of the face and I said, "You know what, I'm going to leave you guys now as I can see I don't belong here. Just for your information, I've got news for you. I'd rather have one "Black Velvet" than 10 "Livin' On the Prayers" and I kissed him on the side of the face and went to the fire place in the big dining hall, I stared at the fire for two hours, and Miles thought what the hell was wrong with me. Eric went to Miles and said I was a lady, I believed like a lady and he behaved abominably. Do you know what Eric did? He wrote the bridge of the song based on my direction. Desmond said, "I'll charge you 50,000 to go into the studio to record the record." I said, "Fuck you, we'll just use the demo." You should interview Eric Bazillian, he would be a great interview.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I will. Okay, I have to ask you about Jeff Healy, who was great. He played with you on the "85 bpm" record, am I right?<br /><br /><b>Alannah:</b> He was a dear, dear friend. He was blind and couldn't't make up his mind, and his manager was a prick. I remember being at a party at his house and I was on the fourth floor where the party room was and it was so lavish, it was where they spent all of Jeff's money. It looked like Elvis' mansion with four inch shagged carpets. There was a fuck palace at the top floor and when I came out the manager zipped up his pants like I've done something with him. I was disgusted. This was the same manager that was feeding Jeff information about me, who I was, and Jeff, bless his heart, made up his own mind. Jeff called me once when he had a club in Toronto and asked me to come and sing with him. I went down to his club, he got to know me, and we became inseparable friends. He worked so hard, as his cancer grew and grew, to make enough money for his wife and son. He was such a lovely, lovely guy, I miss him so, I wish he was alive. I miss going to his club, it was like having my own little club in Toronto where I could go and play for the people privately.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>What was the best story of your career, Alannah? Something positive I hope.<br /><br /><b>Alannah: </b>It was when "Black Velvet" was nominated for a Grammy. They held the Grammys in New York, and I get to the hotel and I hired my make-up artist and said if you want to go shopping, make sure you do my make-up before you go. The Grammy association called me and said for me to get there now, I was in the pre-broadcast. They did not feature the best female rock artist in the main broadcast, but they included the male who at that time was Eric Clapton, but he was away, he was a no-show. I got the make-up artists to get back to my suite to get my hair and make-up done and get down there. I was sitting in the audience in the afternoon and they announced the best female rock singer and they said "Black." I thought it was gonna be "Black Cat," by Janet Jackson. In the category there was Aretha Franklin, Alison Moyet, Lita Ford, Melissa Etheridge... when they said "Black Velvet" I was like "huh?" It took me forever to get the podium, I couldn't believe it. When I got up there I did my speech and later on when they did the televised version Lyle Lovett and Susanne Vega gave me my award and I went up and accepted my award. The next year they sandwiched the female and male groups together.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>That's a good story.&nbsp;Alannah, thanks so much for being on the Phile.<br /><br /><b>Alannah: </b>Thank you. There's been people that had grandchildren since my first record came out, but there you are.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Ha. Please come back on the Phile when you can, Alannah.<br /><br /><b>Alannah: </b>Of course, it was my pleasure.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SB1XXrVuOqE/WoRkFfsPQwI/AAAAAAAAyfs/0l6BZf2RuJkNelgV6fN5U3Zqe4-mwvfIACLcBGAs/s1600/10172838_753636038002611_7553442794022988841_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="636" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SB1XXrVuOqE/WoRkFfsPQwI/AAAAAAAAyfs/0l6BZf2RuJkNelgV6fN5U3Zqe4-mwvfIACLcBGAs/s320/10172838_753636038002611_7553442794022988841_n.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />Wow. I have no idea what to say. That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Alannah. Holy interviews, Batman, the Phile will be back next Sunday with Burt Ward from "Batman." Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Have a good Valentine's Day.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PeT2prR7cI8/WoRmiaMc0bI/AAAAAAAAyf4/fKFgmPeLINIYuKBYZLChOKGW3zudA7NXQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a10.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="511" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PeT2prR7cI8/WoRmiaMc0bI/AAAAAAAAyf4/fKFgmPeLINIYuKBYZLChOKGW3zudA7NXQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_a10.jpeg" width="292" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-36410248398388294812018-02-12T13:04:00.000-05:002018-02-12T13:06:39.517-05:00Pheaturing Dan Gillespie Sells From The Feeling<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m2hEv5leksA/WoGp7PggfcI/AAAAAAAAyVQ/tvfB3Jnal5s90GvzesOz-l9F9Q1CwdrDACLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m2hEv5leksA/WoGp7PggfcI/AAAAAAAAyVQ/tvfB3Jnal5s90GvzesOz-l9F9Q1CwdrDACLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Good</b> morning, and welcome to the Phile for a Monday. How are you? Canadian ice dancing pair Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir got a bit to hot on the ice. Their skate through the soundtrack of <i>Moulin Rouge</i> featured a lift which quickly had her vagina close to his face, and that's too sexy for the world "The Toronto Star" reported that "The Canadian Press was leery of moving photos which captured the pose," and that the pair will cool down the routine when they compete in South Korea. With the heat turned all the way up, Virtue and Moir got a perfect score at the Canadian Skating Nationals in Vancouver. Moir insists that the tweak to the routine is for aesthetic, not sexiness, reasons. "What it came down to actually was that when we slowed it down and looked on the video, it wasn’t aesthetically that beautiful of a position, so we wanted to change it, make it a little bit better," Moir told the "Star" on Wednesday at the Gangneung Ice Arena in PyeongChang. In the new version,"Virtue straddles Moir’s shoulders for a brief moment before dipping one knee down and then dismounting." "We wanted to make a bit of a different statement. If that was bringing an edge or sexuality or darkness, or a contemporary feel to it, then mission accomplished I guess," Virtue told the "Toronto Star." Virtue and Moir have been skating together for 20 years. The team won the gold for ice dancing at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and silver at the 2010 Sochi games. &nbsp;Keep killing it. Sexy lift or no sexy lift, you make Team Canada proud!<br /><b>Robert</b> O'Neill is a former Navy Seal who participated in the raid on Osama bin Laden and, although there are reports from another Seal claiming the same, O'Neill says he fired the bullets that killed him. On Thursday, O'Neill took to Twitter to deal with reports that Trump gave "marching orders" to the Pentagon demanding a military parade and show of strength down the streets of Washington. He hates it. He tweeted about third world bullshit. "A military parade is third world bullshit," wrote O'Neill. "We prepare. We deter. We fight. Stop this conversation." Inevitably, reporters, news outlets, and bystanders across the Internet were eager to discuss the usually "politically conservative" Navy Seal's opposition to Trump on a military issue. O'Neill kept the conversation going, retweeting criticism and applause alike. He continued his thoughts with a reference to the invasion of Iraq. His point seems to be that rather than a show of force in Washington, the United States historically shows its might in actual wartime. O'Neill isn't the only one criticizing Trump's parade idea. Trump allies like Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said it would be a "sign of weakness" to parade through Washington. Several other Republicans piled on, and of course Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth... who coined the nickname Cadet Bone Spurs for the draft-averse POTUS... said the idea was "a waste of resources." Look at this one last comment from Robert O'Neill, commenting on criticism of his first tweet. "Where is Osama's body by the way?"<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bD7Mo0QwT7c/WoGwpJ5zb6I/AAAAAAAAyVo/8DqwU2zC0_A6GT3d3QVgJAftmu3vs8TBQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-12%2Bat%2B10.19.23%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="570" height="195" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bD7Mo0QwT7c/WoGwpJ5zb6I/AAAAAAAAyVo/8DqwU2zC0_A6GT3d3QVgJAftmu3vs8TBQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-12%2Bat%2B10.19.23%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>During</b> a heated interview on CNN's "New Day," anchor Alisyn Camerota laid into former leader of the American Nazi Party, Arthur Jones, who is currently running for an Illinois Congressional seat. Camerota kicked off the interview by showing footage of a deeply unhinged Jones speech at a neo-Nazi event. Then, she swooped in with a refreshingly straightforward question. “Mr. Jones, It is shocking to hear how vocally and unapologetically racist you are. Are you a Nazi?” Jones eschewed the direct label of nazi, while conveniently neglecting to condemn his recent nazism. "I do not belong to any formal national socialist organization anymore. I haven’t belonged to the American Nazi Party since about 1990," Jones said. "I call myself an American patriot and statesman." “You’ve been part of anti-Semitic groups since the 1970s,” Camerota responded. “You’re part of the White People’s Party. You dress in Nazi garb, you celebrate Hitler’s birthday. You’re a Nazi.” The intensely heated interview only got more tense when Camerota confronted Jones about the views expressed on his political website, which includes a section that calls Holocaust survivors "peddlers of propaganda." "Your website is filled with the most vile, rancid rhetoric I think I’ve ever read,” Camerota confronted. The criticism towards his website set Jones off onto a tirade about the "two party, Jew party" system. "Yes, I deny the Holocaust. It is an extortion racket, pure and simple. If you did an honest investigation of the Holocaust, you'd realize it is nothing but an international extortion racket by the Jews... to suck us into one war after another in the mideast," Jones explained. While Jones continued on his breathless rant against Holocaust survivors, Camerota shot back with the facts, before assuring him that his political run would end in failure. "You lose virtually everything that you run for. You’ve run for Congress and you’ve lost, for mayor, for alderman. And we’re not in the business of predicting the news, but I can say that you will lose this race. You couldn’t win dog catcher,” Camerota said. Luckily, Jones is running in Illinois' 3rd district, which has a solid track record of voting Democrat. Nonetheless, the fact that he is running unopposed in the Republican primary is terrifying in itself.<br /><b>A</b> few days ago on Reddit's "WTF" forum, a video that definitely fits that description surfaced, titled "The 'Hot Coil' Challenge." The post was appropriately tagged as "not safe for work" and that's truly the only appropriate thing about the video, featuring a screaming lunatic pressing his arm down on a burning hot stovetop. "See that hot fucking coil?" says the man about to make a massive mistake. "I gotta get your face too," responds his friend, positioning his camera for the perfect angle. I'll note here that the camera did not get the perfect angle, filming vertically, but that's hardly these two guys' worst offense. "Your reaction will be priceless," he says. You can definitely put a price on his reaction... depending on how good your health insurance is. The guy predictably screams in pain, and by the look of his arm, he'll have to go to the hospital to treat the intense third degree burns all over it. &nbsp;The Internet quickly feared for humanity, with places like Maxim and LadBible making the apt comparison to the equally stupid stunt of eating tide pods. On Reddit, the post got thousands of upvotes and hundreds of comments, with most falling along the lines of...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MUT_Of40ntU/WoGzhSaKuEI/AAAAAAAAyV0/QDzeU_mroqIBVd5C7-8SylgpODnwJaQnQCLcBGAs/s1600/fucking-AUODVD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="181" data-original-width="700" height="102" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MUT_Of40ntU/WoGzhSaKuEI/AAAAAAAAyV0/QDzeU_mroqIBVd5C7-8SylgpODnwJaQnQCLcBGAs/s400/fucking-AUODVD.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Luckily, no other videos or images from the "hot coil challenge" have gone viral, and let's seriously hope it stays that way. Hey everyone, there are better ways to get Internet points than by torturing yourself.<br /><b>Figure</b> skater Adam Rippon, the first openly gay athlete to represent the United States at the Winter Olympics had already made headlines for a contentious exchange with Vice President Mike Pence, the first open politician about calling his wife "mother." But after telling "USA Today" that he would prefer not to meet "the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy" and receiving a tweet from the VP himself, it was time for Rippon to skate. This morning in South Korea was his Olympic debut. Today is the Day of Adam. It's Rippon Hour. After a stellar performance in men's free skate, Rippon was ranked second behind Russian Mikhail Kolyada. He later fell to third after Canadian Patrick Chan. That helped the U.S. take bronze in the team event. People in the United States were furious about Rippon's third place ranking, especially because the two athletes in the top spots fell during their performances. Of course, since most of you watching only gained figure skating expertise from watching <i>I, Tonya</i> a week ago, there are nuances to the rules we don't understand. Via HuffPo, "even though skaters are penalized one point for falling they may earn more points overall for attempting [different and challenging moves]." Apparently, Kolyada and Chan both performed routines with "higher degrees of difficulty than Rippon's." Time weighed in that there were "inconsistencies with [the] jumps" in Rippon's otherwise "fluid and at times mesmerizing routine." But if Americans were brought down by Rippon's scoring, they were brought up again by his post-skate interview (which is misleading, since Xanax is a downer). Talking to NBC, Rippon said, "I've been waiting 28 years to get out there. And let me tell you, it was worth the wait..." But how does it feel on the ice? "I want to throw up. I want to go over to the judge and say, 'Can I just have a Xanax and a quick drink. I'll be fine.' But I kept it together. I just took it one element at a time." He also name dropped Reese Witherspoon and "highly recommended" being an Olympian. Enjoy the rest of Adam Rippon Day.<br /><b>So</b>, my son asked me what is so great about the Olympics and why he should watch it and I said how about Canadian hockey player Sarah Nurse?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rz6Cglh3clY/WoG2NqlzZoI/AAAAAAAAyWA/jrRfmGTB9RoY2JxgBgRjiexsDeTvN6H5gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-12%2Bat%2B10.25.17%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="507" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rz6Cglh3clY/WoG2NqlzZoI/AAAAAAAAyWA/jrRfmGTB9RoY2JxgBgRjiexsDeTvN6H5gCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-12%2Bat%2B10.25.17%2BAM.png" width="346" /></a></div><br />Ever see those flyers hanging on lamp posts where you rip off a phone number at the bottom? Well, how about this one?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oBI6P5V2xPY/WoG3KjAfogI/AAAAAAAAyWM/0OdqgGCg0lsia3a7MrJzfDLNFxepj3GLgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_a8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oBI6P5V2xPY/WoG3KjAfogI/AAAAAAAAyWM/0OdqgGCg0lsia3a7MrJzfDLNFxepj3GLgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_a8.jpeg" width="306" /></a></div><br />That's great, right? Once in awhile I like to show you what some people actually look like when they are reading the Phile. Like this guy for instance...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rYj8TY5Bxrc/WoG4-C1rAKI/AAAAAAAAyWY/Of72PDqo_qQU_nUKERlifWZ9uFfO-eqPACLcBGAs/s1600/okcupid-scammer-trolled-5sF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rYj8TY5Bxrc/WoG4-C1rAKI/AAAAAAAAyWY/Of72PDqo_qQU_nUKERlifWZ9uFfO-eqPACLcBGAs/s400/okcupid-scammer-trolled-5sF.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I think he's looking at a Mindphuck. There's a new Porgs movie that is coming out that looks interesting, kids. Here's the poster...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-soN7u22DLGs/WoG7V0-Z3oI/AAAAAAAAyWk/U885rr7dmCQqy7NB7qFxGZtQ1vJ2FQIPACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="622" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-soN7u22DLGs/WoG7V0-Z3oI/AAAAAAAAyWk/U885rr7dmCQqy7NB7qFxGZtQ1vJ2FQIPACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2742.JPG" width="258" /></a></div><br />Wait a minute... I've actually seen a poster vaguely looking like that before...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NeIhdSPUrUM/WoG8CygxILI/AAAAAAAAyWs/5Ib0Wq83dsMVmWkkWl1kuXk0FUjK8BtYwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="652" height="331" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NeIhdSPUrUM/WoG8CygxILI/AAAAAAAAyWs/5Ib0Wq83dsMVmWkkWl1kuXk0FUjK8BtYwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3042.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />I knew it. Oh, man, that's so stupid. That's as stupid as...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iBk63QyQb8o/WoG85fIyraI/AAAAAAAAyW0/bE8Jb9BYm-koIZM-sFUABAbJt82vFclHACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9e8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="429" height="388" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iBk63QyQb8o/WoG85fIyraI/AAAAAAAAyW0/bE8Jb9BYm-koIZM-sFUABAbJt82vFclHACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9e8.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. So, I don't know if you know this but I can't stand Betty White. Don't get me started on her. I saw this pic and it's another reason not to like her...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dD5j7f44dNA/WoG9G5ir9YI/AAAAAAAAyW4/sxuMu4ENzOY6bHeBOzhNzdXMq-87_57LACLcBGAs/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dD5j7f44dNA/WoG9G5ir9YI/AAAAAAAAyW4/sxuMu4ENzOY6bHeBOzhNzdXMq-87_57LACLcBGAs/s400/maxresdefault.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Ugh. So, parents, I hope your kids in school are as clever as the student that came up with this... <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5JiG3SeS04s/WoG9mDH0KDI/AAAAAAAAyXE/mIMUfJy6RqAmT_HN505KsSz9anNlnrJwQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9e1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="499" height="237" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5JiG3SeS04s/WoG9mDH0KDI/AAAAAAAAyXE/mIMUfJy6RqAmT_HN505KsSz9anNlnrJwQCLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_9e1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />That would of been my answer as well. If he 8 is sideways why can't the 5 be sideways as well, right? So, Valentine's Day is two days away and you might still be looking for a card to give your loved one. How about this old time creepy looking one?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SOomp_Z4ECo/WoG-GoOxKQI/AAAAAAAAyXI/QoITM1DLngMyaNEelbTyj_EZj8-fkiaAwCLcBGAs/s1600/a99968_valday-sinister-painting-vintagehalloween.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="952" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SOomp_Z4ECo/WoG-GoOxKQI/AAAAAAAAyXI/QoITM1DLngMyaNEelbTyj_EZj8-fkiaAwCLcBGAs/s400/a99968_valday-sinister-painting-vintagehalloween.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><br />Yikes. So, my son and I were talking about how we used to watch "Sesame Street" together when he was little. I'm glad we don't watch it together now because that show sure has changed a lot since then...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jJKT9Bg6GVw/WoG-fEXIX3I/AAAAAAAAyXQ/9cdnJ3Ioxx8BKSmZX-XsijwaMeumHQC0gCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_7e.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="386" height="248" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jJKT9Bg6GVw/WoG-fEXIX3I/AAAAAAAAyXQ/9cdnJ3Ioxx8BKSmZX-XsijwaMeumHQC0gCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_7e.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lCHE8u1BwwM/WoG_oAlr6MI/AAAAAAAAyXo/wvboPjT1H0UwXOVa1e2dUPYyqmC44kXRQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9ea.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="250" height="296" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lCHE8u1BwwM/WoG_oAlr6MI/AAAAAAAAyXo/wvboPjT1H0UwXOVa1e2dUPYyqmC44kXRQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9ea.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Grover provides a hands on experience as how to break your rivals knees with just a push and a blood curdling shriek.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y8MeKD1COfE/WoG_x1Nu1mI/AAAAAAAAyXs/hRTBwKv-9fUePXJU-AnCRJ8u5HoytvpeACLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y8MeKD1COfE/WoG_x1Nu1mI/AAAAAAAAyXs/hRTBwKv-9fUePXJU-AnCRJ8u5HoytvpeACLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NmQRBKsxT50/WoHAqZYoM3I/AAAAAAAAyYE/ISWS4hpNYz8dI3wOr-rx-3oODAHS9gF8ACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9a6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="329" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NmQRBKsxT50/WoHAqZYoM3I/AAAAAAAAyYE/ISWS4hpNYz8dI3wOr-rx-3oODAHS9gF8ACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9a6.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div><br />If you don't spot this Mindphuck then I don't know what to say. Haha. Okay, so, you know I live in Florida, right? Well, there's somethings that happen in this state that happens nowhere else. So, once again it's time for a story from...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KL3S0CzVJD4/WoHBFbPY6CI/AAAAAAAAyYI/7NhmxIkFDq0HFrZmpBqZRPCLJeK0Ce18QCLcBGAs/s1600/americas-wang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="1000" height="282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KL3S0CzVJD4/WoHBFbPY6CI/AAAAAAAAyYI/7NhmxIkFDq0HFrZmpBqZRPCLJeK0Ce18QCLcBGAs/s400/americas-wang.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />A Trump supporter in high school who tried to get his classmate deported ended up getting kicked out himself. Kicked out of school, that is. Cory Carnley, a prolific pro-Trump, anti-immigrant Redditor from Gainesville, Florida, posted a gleeful selfie after allegedly reporting an undocumented classmate to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vKj7uDlvqfs/WoHBpreHGzI/AAAAAAAAyYY/IFqnI3bLOCQCHHljFqkges1RwYFT-7UHwCLcBGAs/s1600/person-people-human-51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1039" data-original-width="721" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vKj7uDlvqfs/WoHBpreHGzI/AAAAAAAAyYY/IFqnI3bLOCQCHHljFqkges1RwYFT-7UHwCLcBGAs/s400/person-people-human-51.jpg" width="277" /></a></div><br />His photo went viral, because regardless of your views on immigration policy, you have to admit that reporting somebody to ICE is a dick move. This is high school student Cory Carnley. Cory brags about calling ICE on people, dreams of torturing immigrants, and makes racist posts about blacks and Jews. Cory is too young to have voted for Trump and lives in a cushy college town. This is the face of the alt-right. According to <a href="http://babe.net/">Babe.net</a>, Carnley explained on Reddit, "The person I reported hasn’t even been here long enough to speak more than basic essential English. They’re no DACA baby like everyone seems to be assuming for some reason. Also, don’t worry about their family. They’re illegal too." Babe also scanned through his previous Reddit posts to find extremely racist posts about black people and Jews, and his fantasies about torturing immigrants to death. He also wrote about threatening to rape people. Once the piece was published, he deleted his Reddit account. In a follow-up article, Babe reported that Carnley has been expelled from school. In a statement to Babe, Cory's former principal added, "I could not disagree more with the ideas in these posts. They certainly do not represent our school's culture. GHS is a wonderfully diverse school where students come together and do amazing things. One student does not speak for 1,800 classmates. While this is an extremely unfortunate situation, I hope it will also serve as a learning opportunity for our students." Good-bye, loon.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tg5M9azrY6A/WoHEvxYya6I/AAAAAAAAyYk/r-ewqVJXJ9I0oP8cGanaOLGKtq33z7p4gCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_1e.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="922" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tg5M9azrY6A/WoHEvxYya6I/AAAAAAAAyYk/r-ewqVJXJ9I0oP8cGanaOLGKtq33z7p4gCLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_1e.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><br /><b>Hulu Plus</b><br />Hulu Plus is a streaming video service that allows viewers to watch Capitol One commercials for only $8 per month.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dCx7GoAYLPQ/WoHF6uRgd8I/AAAAAAAAyY4/IqVW1wYfy-cT3l7QGofSwE7JF0jkAZqHgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="583" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dCx7GoAYLPQ/WoHF6uRgd8I/AAAAAAAAyY4/IqVW1wYfy-cT3l7QGofSwE7JF0jkAZqHgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Donald Trump gave the Pentagon "marching orders" to plan a military parade in Washington, the "Washington Post" reports. "I want a parade like the one in France,” Trump reportedly said, referring to the Bastille Day celebrations in France that recognize the beginning of the French Revolution by commemorating the storming of the Bastille prison. Of France's celebrations, which Trump attended last year, he told reporters, “It was one of the greatest parades I’ve ever seen. It was two hours on the button, and it was military might, and I think a tremendous thing for France and for the spirit of France.” Apparently the cost of simply bringing the desired military equipage to Washington would cost millions of dollars. And the military is not sure how they're going to pay for the parade. The Pentagon confirmed in a statement, “We are aware of the request and are in the process of determining specific details"... like how to pay for it.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xQ7ybzaJep4/WoHHAAFdjQI/AAAAAAAAyZE/8YQOUoWziSYeGTUmG1iQO-68yNXYT9aDgCLcBGAs/s1600/yoursign-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xQ7ybzaJep4/WoHHAAFdjQI/AAAAAAAAyZE/8YQOUoWziSYeGTUmG1iQO-68yNXYT9aDgCLcBGAs/s400/yoursign-41.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />The 75h book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zB2NH7Q5MF0/WoHHKo3MyDI/AAAAAAAAyZI/nanfggbAqCIsF6fgwyJBNmDvLQGm-SrmgCLcBGAs/s1600/41ZDq9ooueL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zB2NH7Q5MF0/WoHHKo3MyDI/AAAAAAAAyZI/nanfggbAqCIsF6fgwyJBNmDvLQGm-SrmgCLcBGAs/s400/41ZDq9ooueL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />Bruce will be the guest on the Phile next Monday. And now for some...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dS5oBcWEKZ8/WoHHdvdFS_I/AAAAAAAAyZM/h8c9tpMmbwkNBKre-8EeqrQASVP4w8jzACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dS5oBcWEKZ8/WoHHdvdFS_I/AAAAAAAAyZM/h8c9tpMmbwkNBKre-8EeqrQASVP4w8jzACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Phact 1. </b>In 1903, after camping with John Muir, Teddy Roosevelt established Yosemite as a national park to preserve its “majestic beauty all unmarred.” As president, T.R. signed into existence four other national parks, 18 national monuments, 55 national bird and wildlife refuges, and 150 national forests.<br /><br /><b>Phact 2. </b>In 1919, William Little, an African American soldier who fought in World War I, was lynched because he refused to take off his uniform when he got back home to Blakey, Georgia.<br /><b><br /></b><b>Phact 3.</b> <i>Pulp Fiction</i> was originally rejected by TriStar, with them saying, “This is the worst thing ever written. It makes no sense. Someone’s dead and then they’re alive. It’s too long, violent, and unfilmable.”<br /><br /><b>Phact 4. </b>Albert Göring, the younger brother of the head of Luftwaffe Hermann Göring, helped many Jews and dissidents survive in Germany by forging his brother’s signature and falsifying transit documents.<br /><br /><b>Phact 5.</b> JFK had a younger sister, Rosemary, who received a lobotomy which made her unable to walk or speak. This was his and his brother’s main motivation for all they did for individuals with special needs.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T_N-oFqGCdg/WoHIzsYpueI/AAAAAAAAyZk/60P-K_5wl6wI7T0nodItSAc-uV69CsG7wCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_947.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="300" height="374" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T_N-oFqGCdg/WoHIzsYpueI/AAAAAAAAyZk/60P-K_5wl6wI7T0nodItSAc-uV69CsG7wCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_947.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today's guest is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known as being the lead vocalist and frontman for the rock group the Feeling, whose latest self-titled CD is available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Please welcome to the Phile... Dan Gillespie Sells.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yeFduftWX8E/WoHLQ6X2o0I/AAAAAAAAyZ4/KXDK7IAlJQsuwVerCmcPgrVrjpbVvhXigCLcBGAs/s1600/1925291_10152344842268825_1312222629_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yeFduftWX8E/WoHLQ6X2o0I/AAAAAAAAyZ4/KXDK7IAlJQsuwVerCmcPgrVrjpbVvhXigCLcBGAs/s400/1925291_10152344842268825_1312222629_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hi, Dan, welcome to the Phile, how are you sir?<br /><br /><b>Dan:</b>&nbsp;I'm good. My pleasure, and you're welcome.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, I love your latest self-titled album and "Spiraling" is a great song. It could be about my life. Maybe it'll become my theme song. What was the story behind that song?<br /><br /><b>Dan:</b>&nbsp;I supposed it's one of those songs you could write after a break up I suppose. The whole fourth album was full of break up songs and I was sick of writing break up songs. The one exception on this album was "Spiraling" where I had a brief affair with which I really bought into it actually and it didn't work out, but when it did work out I thought shit, here it goes again. It was almost that repetitive thing when I have that sinking feeling but I have to recognize it and that's what I suppose I was writing when it comes to song, that sort of nature when I came to realize that I've done it again and hasn't worked out. Musically it was really stripped... we recorded the drums over a single microphone and it gave it a tight on the demo. We demoed all the songs before we did the proper recordings and we just liked the way the drums just oiled along. It's one of those tracks where you have very little cymbals and a very strict minimal approach. I thought the melody could handle that.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Does songwriting come easy for you, Dan? A lot of your songs are so catchy.<br /><br /><b>Dan:</b> Kinda... if it's annoyingly catchy. I feel songs should have a giving nature, and for me if it's providing me with a strong melody I'd rather not be there.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Your singing sometimes goes from one end of the spectrum to the other, Dan. When you are writing are you thinking about that?<br /><br /><b>Dan:</b> What I intend to do is write in keys that are as uncomfortable as possible because it makes me go to different places. I think after five albums in and many years of writing songs I never wanted to be any of those writers that falls into the same trap all the time. I think of I do that thing where I change a key I start writing in E flat and my voice goes to a funny place because I'm in a key I don't usually write in. I kind of push my voice to uncomfortable places and write melodies that continue to be fresh. It's bit like instruments... if I get stuck on the piano I pick up a guitar and I start playing it with a funny tuning and I almost try and trip myself up all the time because otherwise easily I become automatic. It's like a box of tricks, I unconsciously become boring. I'm terrified of that happening so I'm always trying to trip myself up.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, how is recording and songwriting different now then when you started?<br /><br /><b>Dan:</b>&nbsp;In the early days I demoed stuff on a really bad bit of software that was obviously entirely illegal. It would crash all the time and sometimes when it would crash it would put the stuff back, either in the wrong order or would shift a couple of beats or something, Or even worse I would lose half of what I recorded, but sometimes when I would play what I had back and it was random and lost a couple of tracks or something it'll just be better. It was kinda great, I wasn't expecting that to happen. I force those things now, now that the software is much more stable I have to find other ways to force accidents. Like playing in keys my fingers don't like. It's like being beginner again, I wrote some really good songs when I began because I was limited, nothing stopped me going down those chops.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>"Spiraling" ends right into the next song, "Feel Something." Was that planned, Dan?<br /><br /><b>Dan:</b> We did that at the end when we were putting the album together itself. I listened to a lot of concept albums when I was younger. My dad's record collection was full of that kind of albums thing. I love sound scapes and I love the idea of an album. Sometimes linking the songs with an outro and intro can help the experience of an album listen. Opposed to there's a song, there's a song, there's a song, with nothing happening between every song. We'd always done it, and it's something we do as a band. There's always some weird bit left of noise left of the track, or sometimes we'll post something in from another whole song like an experimental guitar thing that never really worked but we could use it in a weird way. I like that, but we have to do it if they work or not. Other times we have a gap and say that's fine. There's a lot of instinct going on, as opposed to planning,<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, you play guitar and piano I believe... which one of those do you write on?<br /><br /><b>Dan: </b>I've got a piano and I sit at the piano and write most of the time. Occasionally I'd grab the guitar, actually our latest one I wrote on the guitar more than the piano. It was a deliberate thing because I've done the whole 4th album sitting at the piano, and wrote the whole thing at the piano. I wanted to go somewhere different, I didn't want to write another breaking up album. Other than "Spiraling," all the other songs are about completely different things. So I thought I'll play the guitar for most of my writing and it got me into a different head space and a different place.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, how far into all this do you show the songs to the band?<br /><br /><b>Dan: </b>Ummm. do you know what? That completely varies. It depends when the band will appear. If the band appear that morning I might come up with a bunch of different hooks and go okay, let's jam it. Or it could be a whole song that I finished and never had a chance to work with the band. Or it could be a song I almost finished and I'd say, "You boys know what to do. 1, 2, 3... go." That's kind of it, they seem to know what they're doing. Sometimes we have these jam sessions where we play and it's nonsense, it's really groggy and really stupid. We're expressing whatever in a really free way, and sometimes don't play the correct instruments. I'll go and play bass, Rich will play guitar, or the drums or something and out of that often comes a little suggest where I think that's a weird groove, I love it, or that's a strange little twist on the normal chords. Or a melody often, where I'll go away, and use that as song and being to a band. All those ways have been fruitful over the years.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What comes first? Lyrics or the music?<br /><br /><b>Dan:</b> I'll tell you what happens, usually a line that is strong will come with a lyric. I would sing a melody and the lyric would come out with it. That's often what happens, then I have to go away and come build the rest of the lyric and that takes a long time. That's the last thing that gets finished, is the lyric. But the melody can be a problem if you come up with a melody without any words. Sometimes I get a great hook and a really strong melody and it has no word attached to it. And now I'm like now I got to find words that are gong to be good enough to go into this melody. I really struggle with that. There's melodies that I love and really into but because they don't come with the words attached already, that they didn't come out in one go, I really struggle as nothing ever feels right.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, do the lyrics get finished before you start recording with the guys?<br /><br /><b>Dan:</b> Depends, With this album we had to, because the way we recorded it live in the studio. We had to now the songs inside and out and I had to have there lyrics finished. I wasn't over dubbing anything, but with previous albums I'd get as far as the whole song being recorded and I have to finish off the lyric. It normally os the last thing that goes down and I'm usually penning it literally as the boys go, "Come on, get on with it." I didn't want that for this album, I wanted to have everything written and be happy with everything before we even pressed record. We rehearsed everything, we recorded at rehearsals, in a rough way, and I new everything was sounding good in the room, and we pressed record and did the album. It's such a different, I had a chance to finish the lyrics, rehearse with the lyrics, and tweak the lyrics, and when we got into the studio the lyrics were set in stone. I think lyrically this album was the strongest thing I've written and I get better at lyrics while lots of other stuff is getting worse.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I love the song "Non-Stop American." Tell the readers what that song is about.<br /><br /><b>Dan:</b> I don't know, the words in the title sounded like they should go together but what it's about is the difference between British culture and American culture I suppose. We're so different than the Americans, and when I go to work in L.A. or work with writers in L.A. which I don't do it very often, but I have done I really notice the culture difference and they are non-stop, aren't they? The work ethic and the drive and the hunger and the thirst and the success for whatever it is is just relentless. I actually love it, I feed off it, I do enjoy it, but it's so different from England whew we are more laid back about things. So, I wrote that song about the difference between us Brits and the Americans. I kinda just noticed it and wanted to write about it and that's what that song is about.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Do you write down titles when they come to you and keep them in a notebook or something?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Dan:</b> I have started to do that, I never used to do that but only after the last few years ago because I would lose the notebook. I thought it was pointless as I was really useless and good at losing things, but now I got the iPhone and got the little notes thing and I can keep notes of stuff. I always kept thinking I heard people say on a bus or sometimes I miss hear things, I like to use those. I live in Hackney, east London, and there are people from all over the world here, and use all different sort of language. Someone talked about young people having a talent for living, and I thought, okay, I'm using that.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What's easier to write, Dan, faster songs or ballads?<br /><br /><b>Dan: </b>I always found both easy really. Some people say ballads are very easy to write, which is true, they're kinda easy to write, but good ones are not easy to write. Anyone could write a crap ballad, but then again anyone could write a crap any type of song. What it is ballads get judged less harshly than up-tempo songs. People get more confident writing ballads because they know that. I love ballads, but it's gotta be a good ballad, and they're not easy to write. Up-tempo songs are not easy to write, but when someone writes a shit up-tempo song gets most harshly judged because for some reason happy music gets some hard press. It gets a tough reception because it's up-tempo, and happy, or whatever. It's all bullshit. A great pop song is a great pop song, I don't care if it's an up-tempo or down-tempo, fast or slow, difficult, on-key, off-key, it's all of these rules and there's a kinda music establishment that tries to make these rules and it's often to do with class. People who write sci-fi novels will never get taken seriously as people that write historical fiction. There's a kind of snobbery against escapism because that's what draws people that have tougher lives and I think you have to be at a level of privilege in order to enjoy miserable music, and music that is totally awkward. That's not to say that music is not extremely valuable, because I think it is, but ain't something someones goin to listen to after they come home from a bloody tough day at work and they are struggling and having a hard time with it. That's not the type of music they're listening to... they are not putting difficult music on. Difficult music is music where you are in a place and could afford to listen to that kind of music emotionally. I think that's where the judgement comes from. Once you got me started on this subject I could go on forever. I'm pretty passionate about it because I think music should be judged on emotional response to what you feel when you hear it and that's it. Anything beyond that is not really valid.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Well, let me remove that soap box, Dan. Hahaha. Okay, so, who were your influences growing up, Dan?<br /><br /><b>Dan: </b>I grew up with all kinds of music. My music was kind of informed by mostly pop, also lots of other styles of music. You know when you hear writers that work with just pentatonic stuff, that everything they do is with a blues scale, a lot of pop writing is just popping around the blues scale. But for me there's only so far I can go with that and I start introducing other notes, otherwise I just get so bored. So, I feel like I got a lot of places to go, if you know what I mean.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Have you guys always been self sufficient with the writing and recording?<br /><br /><b>Dan:</b> Yeah, out of necessity rather than out of design. We had a record deal when we were 19, but it was one of those development deals, and I wasn't the singer at the time, I just wrote most of the songs and did backing vocals and played the guitar. The woman who was the lead singer was signed to a solo contract, and we got chucked out the back door. That happened a lot back in those days, because bands were not popular in 2000. Then by 2006 bands were popular again so we got record deal basically. To cut a long story short, I've became the lead singer because no one would. We also learned how to produce records because no one else would. I got that dodgy piece of crap software and all of a sudden I could record on a PC I built for myself for s couple hundred quid. I could multi track, and do it in a shed. The first record, we did it in a shed that Kevin and Ciaran, the two brothers in the band, their mum had a place in Sussex and they had this out building, so it was a kind of brick shed, and there was enough space in there for a drum kit and amps so we made the album in there. We just learnt on the job, just experimenting or whatever, and it sounded terrible but what happened was an amazing box engineer named Spike rerecorded some of the drums and guitars.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Didn't Brian May from Queen play on one of your tracks? How did that happen and what track?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Dan:</b> "Love It When You Call" from our first album. What's weird about the Brian May thing, Dicky was playing this whole Brian may riff thing anyway. We were hung on the guitar from "One Vision," but extended, it was very much like that but different enough. I wrote a whole song based on Dicky's playing guitar riff and when the song was done I thought can we really get away with that. Turns out we could, and then Brian May ended up recording it. I ended up playing it with Brian May and I remember Brian May asking me how I played it, and I said, "I could tell you how I came up with it, I just ripped you off, mate." Then he gave me his guitar because I went to sing with him at the Albert Hall. His strap was really long because he's much taller than me, and I didn't have a pick. He said, "Just show me how you do it." I couldn't believe this was happening, I'm playing the riff which his so based on the guitar playing of Brian May with Brian May's guitar, through his rig. It was a lovely day, and obviously he could hear his own style in that song. He said, "I like that." I bet you do.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I hear Queen, Supertramp and 10cc in your music, Dan. Did you ever study those bands' music?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Dan:</b> No, I never studied anything. As a musician who wants to use chords and modulate and wants to use harmony and do like pristine and rich beautiful sounding recordings, and somebody who is inspired to that within pop music that seemed to be the ultimate challenge to make music that was like that for me. So, I definitely love those bands and am inspired by those bands, and they're varied as well in what they did. They could suddenly do a real rocky song and then do a song inspired by 50s rock and roll, followed by something which is almost classical. Queen just went everywhere and didn't care what anyone thought. They had so many styles within their music, it felt like that's the kind of music I wanted to make. We could turn our hand to anything, and the only job was to make sure each song had kind of a purpose and had a great melodic thing tying together. So that was particularly for our first album, and then as albums have gone on I've dipped my toes in lots of other different styles music. This last record, our fifth album, is probably more inspired by my teenage years listening to indie bands, all those guitar bands of the 90s. There's probably as much of that influenced by that more than anything else.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I love that Abbey Road version of "Rosé," Dan, that you have on iTunes. Who is Rosé?<br /><br /><b>Dan:</b> I wanted to write about a character that never fitted into any category easily never really was part of that gang or part of this gang, I think everything I did in my career musically, and also as a human being, I take a bit from here and I take a bit there, but I'm not either of those things. The bands not rock band, and we are not a boy band, or pop band, we always have kinda been our own thing. The trouble is though the things that do that sometimes get confused with "middle of the road." I remember thinking back in those days Rosé wine was just beginning to be one of those drinks that people were starting to like. But before then it was red wine that fancy people would drink, and white wine fancy people would drink with fish. And then rose wine was considered naff, I felt like that's me, I'm the naff guy in the middle. I was never one of those gays would was like having his top off, and I was certainly not straight, and I always felt like I don't fit in, and I'm a bit naff because of that, and judged because of that, And I felt that song was sticking upper all of the people that are not one thing or the other.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I get that. Okay, so, I have to talk about "Everyone Is Talking About Jamie," your musical. I have the poster for it here...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bzyf_2AVkc8/WoHSmEwllcI/AAAAAAAAyaI/IiruLkjyDgontFlLOxTEN29HAW7Mw3u7ACLcBGAs/s1600/etajam-455-x-455-nim-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="455" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bzyf_2AVkc8/WoHSmEwllcI/AAAAAAAAyaI/IiruLkjyDgontFlLOxTEN29HAW7Mw3u7ACLcBGAs/s320/etajam-455-x-455-nim-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What can you tell us about it?<br /><br /><b>Dan:</b> On February 9th, 2017 we opened at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, and I love that theatre and I love Sheffield so I'm really excited about being there and doing it. It's now at the Apollo, and it's a full scale musical with 21 or something in the cast, a 7 piece band, all singing and dancing, and it's the biggest project I've taken on. It's exciting and wonderful and what I love about doing musical theatre is the collaborative element of it. I get to collaborate with choreographers and writers, and a book writer. I collaborated on the lyrics with a lyric writer with the same guy who wrote the book, I've never done that before. Really I was learning on the biggest learning curve ever.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, how do you compare the musicals music to the music you write for the Feeling?<br /><br /><b>Dan:</b> I feel like in theatre it has to have a lot more elements because I have a captive audience who are in there and is totally focused and if I made it as boring as modern radio they'd be like come on, let's get back to the story. But in theatre it needs more, and the more I give and the more fruitful I make the music the better it is for theatre and I feel I have found a home for all those mad ideas that I have. I have found a home for all those songs that are a bit too... melodic. Even the stuff in the Feeling is melodic, but I write stuff that is more melodic and too melodic for the Feeling, and that stuff has a home in musical theatre. It's still pop, there're still pop songs, but I feel like their pop songs with more in them because the nature of it being theatre show, they have to have more in them.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So cool. Dan, thanks so much for being on the Phile. I hope this was fun. Go ahead and mention your website and anything else you want to.<br /><br /><b>Dan: </b>Thank you for letting me rant. Thanks for having me. <a href="http://thefeeling.com/">Thefeeling.com</a>. Cheers.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You're welcome. Come back on the Phile soon when your next release comes out.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r8tpuCdwd2M/WoHS_7zzrhI/AAAAAAAAyaQ/gnB_Ih1X-iIFuC-MqF8kU-MSmo9fEhlewCLcBGAs/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r8tpuCdwd2M/WoHS_7zzrhI/AAAAAAAAyaQ/gnB_Ih1X-iIFuC-MqF8kU-MSmo9fEhlewCLcBGAs/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><br />That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Dan for a great interview. The Phile will be back on Wednesday with A Peverett Phile Valentine Pheaturing Alannah Myles. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PyXCSzVXcH8/WoHW0to14kI/AAAAAAAAyag/ZUFv0v2QScI4WFVrUzKykRBAirSXAp5PwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9fd.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="511" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PyXCSzVXcH8/WoHW0to14kI/AAAAAAAAyag/ZUFv0v2QScI4WFVrUzKykRBAirSXAp5PwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9fd.jpeg" width="291" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-40603419369138635352018-02-11T12:52:00.001-05:002018-02-11T12:53:11.860-05:00Pheaturing Alicia Keys<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ttf8qviQINQ/WoBgrt1euQI/AAAAAAAAyQM/cliA-ksXwcQlqMe_qvZgZiAru1XvKjF7gCLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ttf8qviQINQ/WoBgrt1euQI/AAAAAAAAyQM/cliA-ksXwcQlqMe_qvZgZiAru1XvKjF7gCLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hey</b> there, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. How are you? Right now I'm like... HOLY NERDGASM, BATMAN. Lucasfilm announced that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, creators and showrunners of "Game of Thrones," are moving to a galaxy far, far away to helm their own <i>Star Wars </i>movies. Are you ready for a crossover episode? This new saga is set to be separate from <i>The Last Jedi</i> director Rian Johnson's new trilogy, which itself is separate from the core Skywalker story. People are freaking out about the news, both for better or for worse. Many people are skeptical, noting that the addition of EVEN MORE wars in space borders on overkill. A lot of people are upset that the <i>Star Wars </i>universe, like the universe we live in, continues to be controlled by white dudes. And others simply don't want to see "Game of Thrones" set in space. I have never seen "Game of Thrones" but I was too there is incest on the show... There is already enough incest in <i>Star Wars</i>. While these spin-off movies don't have synopses or release dates just yet, one thing's for certain: the future is dark and full of <i>Star Wars</i>.<br /><b>While </b>the repressive Democratic People's Republic of Korea only sent 10 athletes to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeonchang, the score of 230 cheerleaders more than makes up for the dearth of athletes. As "New Yorker" staff writer Jia Tolentino so eloquently writes, there is a deep absurdity in witnessing "one of the world’s most repressive, totalitarian nations attempt to deploy two hundred and thirty smiling women as a diplomatic shield." Fittingly dubbed The Army of Beauties, the massive squad of matching young women are slated to root not only for the North Korean athletes, but those of South Korea as well. The young women are all hand-picked from top colleges in North Korea, and undergo severe backgrounds checks to insure their faithfulness to the regime. Unsurprisingly, Kim Jong Un also placed attractiveness near the top of the list of requirements. While the "army of beauties" is militantly dedicated to Kim Jong Un (lest they be sent to prison camps), the uniformed image of smiling young women presents a stark contrast to the dictator himself. They present, in effect, a brilliant and terrifying propaganda technique to normalize the regime. Given the massive size of their squad, and the stylized and manicured uniforms, the pictures of them feel uncanny. Check them out...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b0F2Tsh5uOo/WoBjIgkWZvI/AAAAAAAAyQY/PBqJTMjTs40SomdiJjkCdy3RnjmljukrQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-11%2Bat%2B10.36.41%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="369" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b0F2Tsh5uOo/WoBjIgkWZvI/AAAAAAAAyQY/PBqJTMjTs40SomdiJjkCdy3RnjmljukrQCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-11%2Bat%2B10.36.41%2BAM.png" width="315" /></a></div><br />The same characteristics that make this gathering of 230 women a beautiful and fascinating spectacle, also make them a terrifying force for propaganda. But dang, those outfits though.<br /><b>Yesterday&nbsp;</b>Kim Jong Un extended a historic invitation to South Korean Leader Moon Jae-in. The handwritten letter was delivered by the North Korean leader's sister Kim Yo-jong, and formally invited Moon Jae-in to the first meeting between the Korean leaders since 2007. Regardless of the outcome in coming months, Saturday's meeting represented the most significant diplomatic meeting between the two countries in more than a decade. This Olympic meeting marks the first time leaders from the North's ruling dynasty have visiting South Korea since the Korean War, which ended in an armistice in 1953. Moon responded warmly to the invitation, adding that the Koreas should "make it happen," and furthermore urging the North to push for negotiations with the U.S. While an official date for the summit has not been set yet as far as I know, BBC reports that Ms. Kim's invitation offered up "the earliest date possible." "I hope Pyongyang and Seoul will become closer in the hearts of Koreans and will bring unification and prosperity in the near future," read the letter delivered by Ms. Kim.<br /><b>The</b> Olympic Torch lighting the Olympic Cauldron is an iconic symbol recognized worldwide, but many people feel that this year's lighting ceremony might have come off just a bit pornographic. The Opening Ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea ended with figure skater Yuna Kim transferring the flame of the torch to a large metal coil that climbed up a structure and eventually lit the cauldron. But many people are saying that the slowly erecting metal coil looks like a flaming robot penis. Hey, this is supposed to be a family show! If you have a dirty mind, you'll get it...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X_jHO2DI0Sk/WoBktb3L04I/AAAAAAAAyQk/Bqct_5E_FXQraBuwB39Ua_etLK2XF0T8wCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-11%2Bat%2B10.43.03%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="591" height="221" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X_jHO2DI0Sk/WoBktb3L04I/AAAAAAAAyQk/Bqct_5E_FXQraBuwB39Ua_etLK2XF0T8wCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-11%2Bat%2B10.43.03%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Personally, I don't see it! I looks more like fiery doom rollercoaster to me. But then again, I've also never seen a flaming robot penis, so... People on Twitter were definitely not shy about calling it like they see it. What do you think? Giant, fiery robo-dick or just a totally innocuous object that happens to be cylindrical?<br /><b>Okay</b>, enough with the Olympics talk... back to the Super Bowl... As far as I'm concerned, there were two winners of the Super Bowl this year... 1) The Philadelphia Eagles. 2) Ryan McKenna, the 13-year-old who crashed Justin Timberlake's halftime show and became a meme known as selfie kid. In case you missed it, Ryan became a viral sensation after he was seen fiddling with his phone and trying to take a selfie with Justin Timberlake as he sang "Can't Stop the Feeling" to close out his performance at the Super Bowl. McKenna then did what most other newly-minted Internet stars do... he went on "Ellen." At first, Ellen treated McKenna's appearance like any other interview. They talked about the Patriots (Ryan is a hardcore fan), his terribly slow iPhone 6, and how Ryan's dad surprised him with tickets just weeks before the big game. Then Ellen hit him with a surprise of her own. As soon as Ryan figured out he was about to talk Justin Timberlake, his eyes welled up. "Oh, my God!" McKenna gasped. "I can't believe this!" But the biggest surprise came when J.T. invited McKenna and his family to see him perform live in concert in Boston with VIP tickets. Ryan instantly broke out into tears. "Ryan, I look forward to meeting you," Timberlake said, "and our second selfie together."<br /><b>There</b> are some Olympians worth watching the games for. Because they're very attractive. For example... Kailani Craine, Australia, figure skater.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hJ30zv7lBkE/WoBn4vTWKII/AAAAAAAAyQ0/eCPVEezX3lQPeeVCjXfiKy85CHmDfiFPgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-11%2Bat%2B10.56.55%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="592" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hJ30zv7lBkE/WoBn4vTWKII/AAAAAAAAyQ0/eCPVEezX3lQPeeVCjXfiKy85CHmDfiFPgCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-11%2Bat%2B10.56.55%2BAM.png" width="366" /></a></div><br />Have you ever ran into a celebrity and what you're wearing is a coincidence, or related? It happened to this kid...<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hjeOA1zt838/WoBp5IvXiRI/AAAAAAAAyRI/R-ST6mAWSi0b_0QSckT68CNX74nPyD8DACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9d4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hjeOA1zt838/WoBp5IvXiRI/AAAAAAAAyRI/R-ST6mAWSi0b_0QSckT68CNX74nPyD8DACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9d4.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Okay, that's just plain stupid. That's as stupid as this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pNUrK8gSSVE/WoBqt4qY5RI/AAAAAAAAyRQ/0UnDR7Uqh90OWPiTERjrM0xjviknUMsYgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_973.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="338" height="356" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pNUrK8gSSVE/WoBqt4qY5RI/AAAAAAAAyRQ/0UnDR7Uqh90OWPiTERjrM0xjviknUMsYgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_973.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. Meanwhile, in China...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P5uKC_hvhgw/WoBrZ6FUJbI/AAAAAAAAyRY/DlDcwAGdnDQokcC_ePxXfXcytSvkL9pqgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9d6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="650" height="227" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P5uKC_hvhgw/WoBrZ6FUJbI/AAAAAAAAyRY/DlDcwAGdnDQokcC_ePxXfXcytSvkL9pqgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9d6.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />So, ever have real bad luck? I'm sure it's not as has as what happened here to this person...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zq4jSEgq-sY/WoBr1k7O26I/AAAAAAAAyRc/YLoMmX5ayIklsI_VZp0bXtpbkn6yybM5QCLcBGAs/s1600/Mama_ea492c_6467585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1504" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zq4jSEgq-sY/WoBr1k7O26I/AAAAAAAAyRc/YLoMmX5ayIklsI_VZp0bXtpbkn6yybM5QCLcBGAs/s400/Mama_ea492c_6467585.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />That sucks. Hey, so, did you see the new poster for that new Hugh Jackman movie?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-701vwai5Tx8/WoBshq6_mEI/AAAAAAAAyRs/LBIq-TfMsbc4t4SJX6eNE-0Gk5s3IkJjwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1075" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-701vwai5Tx8/WoBshq6_mEI/AAAAAAAAyRs/LBIq-TfMsbc4t4SJX6eNE-0Gk5s3IkJjwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2878.JPG" width="268" /></a></div><br />Haha. So, if I had a TARDIS I would like to be on the Titanic for one day, but knowing my luck I'll get there just a little bit afterwards...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dvek-d-5kTk/WoB0iMOfL9I/AAAAAAAAyTE/HFXe3DSX9VMhPQLM68anxDsWrqF-r1n0gCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9a8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="670" height="210" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dvek-d-5kTk/WoB0iMOfL9I/AAAAAAAAyTE/HFXe3DSX9VMhPQLM68anxDsWrqF-r1n0gCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9a8.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Valentine's Day is a few days away, and you might be looking for a sweet card to give someone. How about this one?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gzB3IRfpsw0/WoBtCxptBkI/AAAAAAAAyR0/hDVzeM0C9N0d6qCQm3KrhXDGktOU-3BawCLcBGAs/s1600/a99968_n-VINTAGE-570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="771" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gzB3IRfpsw0/WoBtCxptBkI/AAAAAAAAyR0/hDVzeM0C9N0d6qCQm3KrhXDGktOU-3BawCLcBGAs/s400/a99968_n-VINTAGE-570.jpg" width="311" /></a></div><br />Awe. That's so sweet. Before we continue I have to say something... On Friday we lost someone in the Foghat family... Craig MacGregor passed away from lung cancer. He joined Foghat in 1976, on the album "Night Shift," and stayed with Foghat through the mid-1980s. A few sporadic stints followed over the ensuing decades before he rejoined for good in 2005. His last show with the band was in 2015, and the last time I saw him play with Foghat was in July, 2015 at Sea World. Craig will be missed by friends and family, and Foghat fans.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-56J6Z0XWnLU/WoB2OsAeFiI/AAAAAAAAyTc/W9m7G182mYwxTWUVdmjw0kjJLWUNptktgCLcBGAs/s1600/27972658_10160175962845085_5449656622999681635_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-56J6Z0XWnLU/WoB2OsAeFiI/AAAAAAAAyTc/W9m7G182mYwxTWUVdmjw0kjJLWUNptktgCLcBGAs/s400/27972658_10160175962845085_5449656622999681635_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Okay, so, my son and I were talking about how we used to watch "Sesame Street" when he was little. I'm glad he's not little now because that show sure has changed over the years...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UsahQibPgcA/WoBtkqv3pEI/AAAAAAAAySA/GBKuFkMF2P4calnmqya4KpS6WGaq68qSwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_7e.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="386" height="248" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UsahQibPgcA/WoBtkqv3pEI/AAAAAAAAySA/GBKuFkMF2P4calnmqya4KpS6WGaq68qSwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_7e.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LkMvD5GNSv0/WoBud-FUkAI/AAAAAAAAySQ/YNh6kMrGRr8nvYVcJHZuvw1-wbuBUb2uwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9d7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="529" height="303" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LkMvD5GNSv0/WoBud-FUkAI/AAAAAAAAySQ/YNh6kMrGRr8nvYVcJHZuvw1-wbuBUb2uwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9d7.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Kermit infiltrates a feminist camp and stealthy injects paprikas with ricin.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-McKkvZjzj2M/WoBumf9D0LI/AAAAAAAAySU/fQIT6ihOvtgVsJavuwXS4YNBBcBPf4EaACLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-McKkvZjzj2M/WoBumf9D0LI/AAAAAAAAySU/fQIT6ihOvtgVsJavuwXS4YNBBcBPf4EaACLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bOjmwC_c3QM/WoBvY0owKxI/AAAAAAAAySg/rhl6dG3ZlNApakDtwUdGZf_McAPb2JW2gCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9da.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="842" data-original-width="673" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bOjmwC_c3QM/WoBvY0owKxI/AAAAAAAAySg/rhl6dG3ZlNApakDtwUdGZf_McAPb2JW2gCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9da.jpeg" width="318" /></a></div><br />This one might be a little hard to spot, kids. But it's there. If you spot the Mindphuck let me know.<br /><br /><br /><br />Okay, so, in the past I had invited a comedian on the Phile who is trying to work on his craft, and to add a few laughs to the Phile. The problem is he is just not funny. Well, it turns out he has been working on new ,material and says this time he will be funny. So, I thought why not, invite him back. So, once again please welcome to the Phile...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xjFtiFZ2qx0/WoBy90--BdI/AAAAAAAAyS4/aaHIULwEuhIyWjNdIwSByK_xZ3Dr5pUagCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_16.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="955" data-original-width="584" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xjFtiFZ2qx0/WoBy90--BdI/AAAAAAAAyS4/aaHIULwEuhIyWjNdIwSByK_xZ3Dr5pUagCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_16.jpeg" width="243" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hello, Ollie, how are you doing? Bene performing lately?<br /><br /><b>Ollie:</b> Hi, Jason. I recently did a show where I consistently got both the name of the venue and the city I was in completely wrong. But I was funny.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay, that's good. So, we're ready. Make us laugh.<br /><br /><b>Ollie:</b> Valentine's Day is coming up so... roses are red, violets are blue I've got Alzheimer's cheese on toast.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Ummm... that really makes no sense at all, Ollie. Try again.<br /><br /><b>Ollie:</b> How do you make a plumber cry?<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Hmmm... I don't know. How?<br /><br /><b>Ollie: </b>You kill his family.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Ollie, that's how you'll make anyone cry. That's so stupid. You have one more chance. Make it count.<br /><br /><b>Ollie:</b> The WNBA.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>What about the WNBA?<br /><br /><b>Ollie: </b>That's it. The WNBA.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Ollie, get out of here, and don't come back unless you have new funny material. Ollie Tabooger, the man guy who doesn't know how to tell a joke, everybody.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_UDZZWGJApM/WoB1jCo6q5I/AAAAAAAAyTQ/SJScR7r1pJwq0rEnPG8UbgQsahux4Dx0wCLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="400" height="187" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_UDZZWGJApM/WoB1jCo6q5I/AAAAAAAAyTQ/SJScR7r1pJwq0rEnPG8UbgQsahux4Dx0wCLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GkZDbesyebQ/WoB15nKnAKI/AAAAAAAAyTU/7ZH_MbFo-Kcu7rldHYlHa1UacmqC9NWHgCLcBGAs/s1600/funny-facebook-fails-whats-your-point1-abrng2-zZ2Z4o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GkZDbesyebQ/WoB15nKnAKI/AAAAAAAAyTU/7ZH_MbFo-Kcu7rldHYlHa1UacmqC9NWHgCLcBGAs/s400/funny-facebook-fails-whats-your-point1-abrng2-zZ2Z4o.jpg" width="386" /></a></div><br />Hahahaha. Hey, wanna play a game?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8LtvGDEO1fM/WoB20L_OfxI/AAAAAAAAyTo/nqo6b4Qo8G0HmaV2f6kvFnFKPEiaavZfQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9dc.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="390" height="390" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8LtvGDEO1fM/WoB20L_OfxI/AAAAAAAAyTo/nqo6b4Qo8G0HmaV2f6kvFnFKPEiaavZfQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9dc.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M6jSzz_XtN8/WoB3ClBUP2I/AAAAAAAAyTs/hPnDHF-ZntY1k_wxv-AFbOG-wP4xzhqeQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9dd.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="186" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M6jSzz_XtN8/WoB3ClBUP2I/AAAAAAAAyTs/hPnDHF-ZntY1k_wxv-AFbOG-wP4xzhqeQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9dd.jpeg" width="383" /></a></div><br />So, which one is it? Potato or Amy Schumer? And now for some sad news...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EDw1Z6ssefg/WoB3QEXUzCI/AAAAAAAAyTw/l0eVt5YppGsR8tttkPxjJuveYx4JDYkTACLcBGAs/s1600/again.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EDw1Z6ssefg/WoB3QEXUzCI/AAAAAAAAyTw/l0eVt5YppGsR8tttkPxjJuveYx4JDYkTACLcBGAs/s400/again.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>John Mahoney&nbsp;</b><br />June 20th, 1940 — February 5th, 2018<br />Good. Now we can finally throw out that stupid chair.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HxbJVfvLvoY/WoB3jANO0qI/AAAAAAAAyT4/E-4BdmCUoCEs8yPbdLAXzT-YTaPH1STkgCLcBGAs/s1600/yoursign-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HxbJVfvLvoY/WoB3jANO0qI/AAAAAAAAyT4/E-4BdmCUoCEs8yPbdLAXzT-YTaPH1STkgCLcBGAs/s400/yoursign-41.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />The 75th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b-18IXKCFkM/WoB3vo05HpI/AAAAAAAAyUA/_ccPV9Kf704efn9dpnnLjZmyKrUV0wmsgCLcBGAs/s1600/41ZDq9ooueL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b-18IXKCFkM/WoB3vo05HpI/AAAAAAAAyUA/_ccPV9Kf704efn9dpnnLjZmyKrUV0wmsgCLcBGAs/s400/41ZDq9ooueL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />Bruce will be a guest on the Phile a week from tomorrow... next Monday. And now for some...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y5AFLB3yg0o/WoB4HxpOmYI/AAAAAAAAyUI/D2Hmk5fMiWop7PqVrNGOxx4RrmMrA6JxwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y5AFLB3yg0o/WoB4HxpOmYI/AAAAAAAAyUI/D2Hmk5fMiWop7PqVrNGOxx4RrmMrA6JxwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Phact 1. </b>After Col. Shaw died in battle, Confederates buried him in a mass grave as an insult to leading black soldiers. Union troops tried to recover his body, but his father sent a letter saying, “We would not have his body removed from where it lies surrounded by his brave and devoted soldiers.”<br /><br /><b>Phact 2. </b>When J. R. R. Tolkien sold the movie rights for "Lord of the Rings," he forbade Disney from ever becoming involved ”as long as it was possible to veto anything from or influenced by the Disney studios for all whose works I have a heartfelt loathing.”<br /><br /><b>Phact 3. </b>Frank Goldsmith, Jr., a Titanic survivor who later lived near Navin Field (Tiger Stadium) in Detroit, never took his children to baseball games because the roar of the crowd reminded him of the screams of people dying in the freezing water.<br /><br /><b>Phact 4. </b>Though offered a scholarship to Princeton, Ralph Nader’s father forced him to decline the offer on the grounds that the family was able to pay Nader’s tuition and the funds should go to a student who could not afford it. Nader graduated magna cum laude in 1955.<br /><br /><b>Phact 5. </b>Hugh Jackman worked as a birthday clown named Coco and made just 50 bucks. Jackman admits that he had no magic tricks and was even told off by a 6-year-old that he is terrible.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eqnGehltars/WoB5DuV3U9I/AAAAAAAAyUY/ZKoMPEuLTl8tMRxSXR_XRV2OpfVjWwyJwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_60.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="298" height="377" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eqnGehltars/WoB5DuV3U9I/AAAAAAAAyUY/ZKoMPEuLTl8tMRxSXR_XRV2OpfVjWwyJwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_60.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />This is really, really amazing... today's pheatured guest is an is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, pianist, actress, and activist. Her latest releases "HERE," and "Vault Playlist, Vol. 1" is available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify and she will be one of the judges on the new season of "The Voice," with Kelly Clarkson. I have no idea why she's on the Phile, but she is. Please welcome to the Phile the one and only... Alicia Keys!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--nRFo2VZcUg/WoB6ZFrAuYI/AAAAAAAAyUk/JcYykbjwXgcuuSTJpkQL55dF1gQB-fV0QCLcBGAs/s1600/27331623_10155063029157051_9031447829832482914_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--nRFo2VZcUg/WoB6ZFrAuYI/AAAAAAAAyUk/JcYykbjwXgcuuSTJpkQL55dF1gQB-fV0QCLcBGAs/s400/27331623_10155063029157051_9031447829832482914_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hey, Alicia, it's so cool to have you here on the Phile. How are you?<br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> Hello, Peverett Phile. I'm taking over the Peverett Phile blog. I'm cool.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I love your most album "HERE." Did you write all those songs yourself, Alicia?<br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> That whole album "HERE," was a collaborative record that was really done in a collaborative way. I purposely wanted to go further inside of myself that I ever went on and I wanted to create a strong group of energy and people. It's a small group but a strong group that would be willing to go there with me. There was a comfort there, and a knowing there, a familiarity there that allowed us to explore further into the insides of all of ourselves and so that's what started us into a dialogue driven conversational communicable process that led to these songs. So, towards the end to actually work with another school group of people was Illangelo, who produced the single "In Common," Billy Walsh, who's a poet, myself, and on "In Common," is a young female writer named Taylor. So, this is cool, on this album I worked with people I knew for a long time and people I just met who were also willing to go layers deep. And so it was very cool.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, where did "HERE" get its name, Alicia?<br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> It's very cool how things happen, you never know how it's going to happen, how it'll involve so I love what it is because even my own personal journeys have been accepting my work in progress. My flaws, my humanity, my humanness, that's what the album is exploring... us as people, that you must be messed up too, that kind of acceptance. We're all kind of screwed up out... here. We are all trying to figure out how to get there, how we are going to improve, how we are gonna stop making the same mistakes we keep messing up. it's very cool just to be able to say that and be honest. <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I love the line in the song "In Common," which I can relate to... "if you like somebody like me you must be messed up to." Is that true?<br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> That didn't come from me, that came from Taylor. I identified with that so much, I was like man, this is crazy. I even tried to fight it, thinking we should say something different like "we are just alike," and I tried to find this other line that maybe we are more alike as opposed to being messed up. After I walked away from it I'm like, no, that's not it. It's interesting what I tried to fight.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Did you always write with somebody else or did you start off writing alone?<br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> It's weird? It's true for so long I did write by myself, or I wrote with my partner Crucial who I had for many years... many of times it was just he and I or just me by myself. I think what I learned I was very worried writing with other people. I was scared of it maybe because I felt there was such a vulnerableness about it, to share that with somebody I didn't know very well was awkward to me. I was like who does that? Then I was learning when I do that of course I wanted to get to know people and I wanted to have a kindred spirit of some sort. It's like when I perform in front of ten people I know, I'm more afraid of performing in front of people 100 I don't. So, I think there might be a bit of that, there's something to the fact that finding the way to almost unveil myself with people. It's challenging but it kinda brings me somewhere.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I love the new EP of you just playing at the piano... just you yourself. Do you write that way, Alicia?<br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> It depends. With "If I Ain't Got You," for example, happened all at once, really quickly, in once sitting, with one concept. I remember writing it on a plane, and then I landed, and I got to the hotel, I always have a keyboard in the hotel, and I tried to work out the chords what I worked out in my head. Then like a song like "Diary," I remember I had this piano riff and every time I sat down at the piano I played that riff. I must've played it for MONTHS, but no lyrics or no anything of relevance made any sense and then one day I sat down and something came.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>How do you come up with some of the ideas for your songs, Alicia?<br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> It's like somethings are just pieces of words or thoughts. That's kinda how it happened on "HERE," it was a lot like I know I wanted to write about addiction... what did that mean? Addiction to what? It started to develop like what are we addicted to? For different people, it's different things. Some people are addicted to drama, some people are addicted to drugs, some people are addicted to attention, some people are addicted to sex, some people are addicted to love, some people are addicted to the idea of love. So, it started to become this whole conversation like what are YOU addicted to. &nbsp;I was asking people what is your addiction, do you feel like asking yourself that. It's a difficult question when you're asking yourself that sort of stuff. Then it was like what does that mean, then we wrote this song called "Illusion of Bliss," that is crazy, it's one of my favorite songs ever. Interestingly enough it's the conversation that brought us there. What are you addicted to, Peverett Phile?<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I'm addicted to iced mocha. Haha. Your music is often a mix of so many different styles. Is that done on purpose?<br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> I didn't realize it was, but this mixture of in the beginning the four people that was the main core team that wrote the majority of "HERE," a great writer and producer named Mark Baston, another writer named Harold Lilly, who wrote a lot of things with me in the beginning on my first two records, and Swizz, my husband... each person had their own thing. Mark had this jazz moments, slash big band with a high piano style, I had this more classical piano style with a very soulful style of writing, Harold has a very traditional old school, bluesy soul, then Swizz has a very original hip hop Bronx gutter rugged... so it was almost like these four different human beings with all different perspectives, when we come together would crash.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>A lot of your music also has a New York theme and vibe, New York must be a big part of your, right?<br /><br /><b>Alicia: </b>Yeah. So, you'll hear songs called "Pawn It All," which is very bluesy, like Muddy Waters, raw, the blues bluesy. So, that kinda collision with the hard New York drums and the vocals become <i>very</i> New York because the majority of us have been from New York, so you feel it in the kinetic energy of it. At the same time there is so much more too, so yes, there is an ode to the essence of New York, a love affair to New York in other ways too.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b>&nbsp;I know other musicians use notebooks to write ideas down and lyrics, what do you use?<br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> I use a notebook as well. I document melodies with my phone, but for an album I always write in a book. I love paper, I love pen. People write on computers, and people write on their phones but I don't feel comfortable that way.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>You have a song called "Diary." Did you write in a diary?<br /><br /><b>Alicia: </b>Yes, I did, and recently I thought I need to do a diary again. Even if it's just five sentences. I write a lot just like I talk a lot, and I think we get so caught up with having it be the full idea. I wondering if there's a trunk kid version I can do, that I can generally jot down so I don't have to feel so pressured in case I can't finish to tonight.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I love your song "Girl On Fire." How did that song come about, Alicia? Were you on fire? Hahaha.<br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> It was a collaborative record in a different way. I think at that time I was really searching for my independence and I wanted to see what happened when I collaborated with anybody on planet Earth that I wanted to. That was good, it really brought about some interesting pieces of work and it was really fun to do that. For so long I worked with one main collaborator which was really good, and we had a strong connection that was so much of the body of work that I have. Then I wanted to see what happens if I do something so totally different. That was the beginning but this was something that was more kinda consistent, that's what "Girl On Fire" is.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I love the chorus on that song, Alicia. You must be proud of it, right?<br /><br /><b>Alicia: </b>When we created that I was like, oh my gosh, yes.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>You did a song with Beyoncé, I think. How was that experience? Did you or her write that?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> It was called "Put It In A Love Song." Majority it was written by myself, but with Swizz too. You can notice him on the music, especially the beat. We were doing a lot of collaborating. My piano playing was his drums and it kinda evolved. I remember that night, it kept evolving and evolving. When we brought it to Bey she really liked it and we went in and crafted that together like her vocals and her singing it. It was just fun, it kept growing and growing every time we added a new piece to it. <br /><br /><b>Me: </b>When did you first start to write songs, Alicia?<br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> The first time I wrote I was eleven. Then when I started to get some ideas of what it really should be like I was probably more like fourteen.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> And when did you start to play piano?<br /><br /><b>Alicia: </b>I started at seven. That was great, it was really good to learn and I hated and it made me so angry that I would have to practice so much. It was so frustrating, it was the summer and everyone was out playing and I was like not fair. I couldn't be more grateful to be independent like that. I never have to wait for anybody to express myself. I'm grateful that I figured that out.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Who were your influences, Alicia?<br /><br /><b>Alicia: </b>Stevie Wonder! Every single thing is like a chord you never heard before. He might as well play with three fingers and somehow the way he figured the voicing out... how did he do that? That's always a beautiful way of playing so I always wanted to have the capacity of both... that I found eventually on the line, but in the beginning it was studying reading music and played what I read. That very technical stuff.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Your first hit was "Fallin," were you surprised it was a hit?<br /><br /><b>Alicia: </b>I never thought. It turns out a lot of my songs are like that actually. "Fallin'" was kinda different and just kinda stuck with people, and I knew it too. When people hear it they love it.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Was "Fallin'" written on the piano?<br /><br /><b>Alicia: </b>Yes, that was straight at the piano, yes.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Your music has a very gospel kinda feel, Alicia, did you grow up in a church?<br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> A lot of people think I grew up in a church but really didn't. But gospel and spiritual music I feel has always been inside of me, and it does show itself. Even my kind of singing, it's more where I'm always going first, it's my first instinct. It's all kinda wound up there together and I like it.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I LOVED your performance of "Hallelujah" you did on "SNL" a few years ago. Was that an easy song to learn?<br /><br /><b>Alicia: </b>The chords are so simple and so beautiful. It goes to these places... I really love "Hallelujah," and people really responded to that, so it's cool.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I also love "The Empire State of Mind." That should replace "New York, New York" as the official song for New York City, don't you think?<br /><br /><b>Alicia: </b>Hahaha.&nbsp;It was unbelievable. That song is officially what I call a monster. It was such a monster that when we were strategizing putting out the record, because I remember the "Element of Freedom" came right after that, we had to be careful of "Empire." We had to get out of the way from my own thing as it would crush my own new shit. It was such a monster and it never ended which is amazing and as you can see still to this day before love to and relate to it. Like their dreams, their hopes, their faith and believe in themselves... you just don't know what's gonna happen to a song.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Who wrote that song, Alicia? You or Jay-Z or someone else? How did that song work out?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> I think in this particular case it was interesting because it was written in different sections. J was working on it for a minute, and I think the idea came to him in some kinda incarnation and he was like interested in this, and he had his magic on and kind a passed to me. When it has different incarnations and grows and evolves it tends to be more interesting in a variety. It doesn't always work but this song really, really did.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I have to ask you about "Million Dollar Bill" that you wrote for Whitney Houston. You wrote her last hit, Alicia, what do you think about that?<br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> Wow. Yeah, I couldn't believe it because you know first of all I loved her my whole life... I looked up to her and her voice like she was the only voice in the whole universe. She came up to me one time at Clive Davis' Grammy party... she was very bold, very loud and direct, and I'm like quiet and soft. She came up to me and was like, "I want to you write a song for me." I was like okay, why not? Why wouldn't I? She said, "Alright, let's figure it out." I was like what the hell am I gonna write for Whitney Houston? Then Clive who has been very dear to me and has been such an incredible guiding light in both our careers doesn't take no for an answer. He would ask, "Where's my Whitney record?" Swizz and I were listening to those south soul records, that were a really cool part of right when disco became almost too disco... it was just kinda in that zone. So, we just started to get used to that catalogue and exploring the sounds of it. There were a few different styles that he and I wrote at the time just for fun. When "Million Dollar Bill" happened he said this might be... and I said, "I think you're right." So, we got her in the studio and I spent some really cool days with her. Getting her comfortable, making sure she felt good, and we created a real sisterhood over that time of making that record. I was really grateful of that. I never expected to get so close with her and I cared about her very much. She was very kind and always checked in on me, and I remember being on tour in some random European city and she as like I'm coming to see you. She was just a genuine beautiful, beautiful soul. I felt so blessed that we were able to do that.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>That's so cool. Alicia,&nbsp;I love the new EP, and can't wait for new music from you. Thanks for being here on the Phile, Alicia, this was really cool.<br /><br /><b>Alicia:</b> Thanks, man. Thank you for your questions.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> One last thing, tell Kelly she needs to come onto the Phile when you see her.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TNjK2RgiOn0/WoCBsQbE8gI/AAAAAAAAyU0/gLFoIiL0CKoh28AL921Ui8qr-R3Oj54ygCLcBGAs/s1600/51G3XZPn1xL._SS500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TNjK2RgiOn0/WoCBsQbE8gI/AAAAAAAAyU0/gLFoIiL0CKoh28AL921Ui8qr-R3Oj54ygCLcBGAs/s320/51G3XZPn1xL._SS500.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />That about does it for this entry of the Phile. I don't know what to think. Hahaha. Thanks to Alicia for a great interview. The Phile will be back tomorrow with Dan Gillespie Sells from The Feeling. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YF3rXWXTp3k/WoCCsWsWqgI/AAAAAAAAyVA/XRCWv6A8oscnVXW_5tr4X3Vv-CSYNP0aACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9df.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="505" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YF3rXWXTp3k/WoCCsWsWqgI/AAAAAAAAyVA/XRCWv6A8oscnVXW_5tr4X3Vv-CSYNP0aACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9df.jpeg" width="288" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-41256893916193140232018-02-05T16:42:00.001-05:002018-02-05T16:42:53.694-05:00Pheaturing David J. Hogan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6yTEa9mC7Dc/Wni5SdhAnXI/AAAAAAAAyLo/WKwROZ0HODovIZ_tGiU9FNhCCJqEw0kigCLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6yTEa9mC7Dc/Wni5SdhAnXI/AAAAAAAAyLo/WKwROZ0HODovIZ_tGiU9FNhCCJqEw0kigCLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hey</b>, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. How're you doing? I hope you're having a better Monday than Tom Brady... because he's a loser. Last night was the 52nd annual Super Bowl, also known as the Tony Awards of football. The Philadelphia Eagles vs. New England Patriots game turned into a proxy war, with Tom Brady and the Patriots standing in for Trump, and the Eagles the hope for everyone else. The world proceeded to explode when Philadelphia pulled off an underdog victory. Philadelphians were so excited they decided to eat horse shit off the ground, and yeah, I don't get that either. Patriots quarterback and 80s movie villain Tom Brady, who already has five Super Bowl rings, was a little bitchy about not getting to add a sixth to his collection. The ageless QuarterbackBot is reviled by everyone except Bostonians and Trump. He's hated by everyone outside of Massachusetts for being so damn good at his job, and loathed by the 59.7% of Americans who don't approve of Trump for being his friend. Scores of Eagles fans took the horse shit out of their mouths long enough to chant "Fuck Tom Brady." Perhaps because the feeling of losing is quite foreign to Brady, he was a total weenie and stormed off the field, not stopping to congratulate Eagles quarterback Nick Foles or perform some traditional "good game" handshakes. It's a courtesy he just decided to ignore. Luckily for Brady, he has his money and his supermodel wife to support him in his time of need. No matter who you are or where you're from, you have to admit that it's super fun to see this grown man cry. <br /><b>NSYNC</b> alum Justin Timberlake returned to the Super Bowl fourteen years after revealing Janet Jackson's breast, and people already thought it was unfair that Timberlake didn't suffer any consequences while Jackson's career was ruined. Not only did Timberlake's performance underwhelm critics, he gave people something new to be angry about. Firstly, Timberlake had the chutzpah to sing the very song that was the soundtrack to Nipplegate, "Rock Your Body," which viewers found disrespectful. Timberlake also pissed off Prince fans by performing alongside a projection of the late pop star, which is something Prince explicitly disapproved of. Prince, who passed away in 2016, once described performing with a deceased artist through digital editing to be "demonic." Needless to say, the "tribute" was not well-received. Someone in the stadium captured on video that the only excitement for J.T. was coming from the planted crowd as seen on TV. For those keeping track at home, that's two artists Timberlake majorly disrespected, and his own performance in a strange camo suit just wasn't good enough to justify it.<br /><b>Philadelphian</b> comedian Kevin Hart had a bit too much fun watching the Eagles win the Super Bowl. The fun-size man was so drunk that he forgot that he wasn't on the team. An Eagle-eyed viewer (get it?!) caught Hart trying to get on the podium to receive the Lombardi Trophy, and getting denied by security. The party didn't stop there. Hart then crashed an NFL Network interview with Eagles defensive lineman Fletcher Cox. "Philadelphia’s a great city," Hart said. "I thought, I hope this is an example of what we can do. We gave a fuck... ooh. I’m out." Realizing his mistake, Hart fumbled off the set with a little help from security. In a video on Instagram, Hart addressed these viral moments, providing kids with an anti-drinking PSA and declaring that trying to get on stage with the Eagles was one of the "top two stupidest things" he's ever done. "But who cares? The Eagles won the Super Bowl," he added. "Yeah, I’m still a little tipsy, but the world can kiss my ass," Hart said. Next time the Eagles win the Super Bowl, he should listen to his wife.<br /><b>The </b>Super Bowl: the pinnacle of football, advertisements, and controversy. Sunday night had its share of highly debatable moments, and the most eye-popping may have been Chrysler's ad for the Dodge Ram, a minute-long clip featuring Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Drum Major Instinct" sermon played over images of athletes, soldiers, kids and, of course, a truck. Anyone watching the ad play out knew it would be a moment on Twitter. When someone called out MLK's kids for allowing the use of his voice, Bernice King weighed in with a simple answer: According to Ad Age, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles defended the ad in the midst of the social media backlash, saying they did work with King's estate on the spot. "It is 50 years to the day that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave such a tremendous speech about the value of service," they said. The statement went on, "Ram was honored to have the privilege of working with the Estate of Martin Luther King Jr. to celebrate those words during the largest TV viewing event annually. We worked closely with the representatives of the Martin Luther King Jr. estate to receive the necessary approvals and estate representatives were a very important part of the creative process every step of the way. The King Center, founded by Coretta Scott King, also denied involvement...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9_7JwCx3jkY/Wni8CvMpimI/AAAAAAAAyL0/DPpGWZzNHOAfh972wfJZY6r_049cL8ivQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-05%2Bat%2B3.17.47%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="237" data-original-width="503" height="187" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9_7JwCx3jkY/Wni8CvMpimI/AAAAAAAAyL0/DPpGWZzNHOAfh972wfJZY6r_049cL8ivQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-05%2Bat%2B3.17.47%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Thank&nbsp;</b>god, finally women will be able to eat chips. PepsiCo, Doritos' parent company, have announced that they're launching a new "lady-friendly" version of their chips which are supposed to be both quieter and less messy. The company claims that research proves women don't like crunching loudly or licking their fingers when they eat in front of other people. Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo's CEO said, "Although women would love to crunch crisps loudly, lick their fingers and pour crumbs from the bag into their mouth afterwards, they prefer not to do this in public. You watch a lot of the young guys eat the chips, they love their Doritos, and they lick their fingers with great glee, and when they reach the bottom of the bag they pour the little broken pieces into their mouth, because they don’t want to lose that taste of the flavor, and the broken chips in the bottom. Women would love to do the same, but they don’t. They don’t like to crunch too loudly in public. And they don’t lick their fingers." Some women find the idea of a women-only chip hilarious, of course.<br />You know, some people are just rotten people. Look at this shit...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ufTB-3B8HjY/Wni92yuWZYI/AAAAAAAAyMA/zMaiDCOmqTsvmF8VfCF1bRratCN-EnEWACLcBGAs/s1600/jwj-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="803" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ufTB-3B8HjY/Wni92yuWZYI/AAAAAAAAyMA/zMaiDCOmqTsvmF8VfCF1bRratCN-EnEWACLcBGAs/s400/jwj-4.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><br />Man, that would suck. Haha. If I had a TARDIS I would go back to the 50s to meet President Eisenhower, but knowing my luck I would end up having to write his speech down for him.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TTVZVWO2z0Y/Wni_D6Kv_6I/AAAAAAAAyMM/xwKhJRIIvmQkpAYfVeOq39aaOSB7KtrwwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9a7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="436" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TTVZVWO2z0Y/Wni_D6Kv_6I/AAAAAAAAyMM/xwKhJRIIvmQkpAYfVeOq39aaOSB7KtrwwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9a7.jpeg" width="260" /></a></div><br />Hey, did you see the new Tide Pod ad? I think it's funny...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9dE-rB4IXgs/Wni_whY28sI/AAAAAAAAyMU/bMNZg3LDYngKFPyGa9I2_EQd4m7JGE7ugCLcBGAs/s1600/27331568_10216408186816910_7119543740976631477_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9dE-rB4IXgs/Wni_whY28sI/AAAAAAAAyMU/bMNZg3LDYngKFPyGa9I2_EQd4m7JGE7ugCLcBGAs/s400/27331568_10216408186816910_7119543740976631477_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. Valentine's Day is nine days away and I was thinking, back in the day there were sure some creepy looking Valentine's Cards available.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6MGAUG_KtwU/WnjARyAy7tI/AAAAAAAAyMc/2i-4g3Hq1g0EGnUnyPz6L4bqXJ-cr4VxQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9a9.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6MGAUG_KtwU/WnjARyAy7tI/AAAAAAAAyMc/2i-4g3Hq1g0EGnUnyPz6L4bqXJ-cr4VxQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9a9.jpeg" width="247" /></a></div><br /><br />So, the new <i>Solo</i> trailer premiered this morning. I saw it and thought it was quite odd. Here's a screenshot...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C5onJ2Ju3a0/WnjAqMIefKI/AAAAAAAAyMg/jd8cKuEqv9kiIGeZY4xcXftilULWQqEOACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_9698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="746" height="287" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C5onJ2Ju3a0/WnjAqMIefKI/AAAAAAAAyMg/jd8cKuEqv9kiIGeZY4xcXftilULWQqEOACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_9698.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />He looks just like Harrison Ford, right? So, I love the cover for today's "New York Post." This is real...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A7v5WH3bTXU/WnjBA3cpAdI/AAAAAAAAyMs/iEB-nlFM5_M66ay87wZfDWWCRUHX99G4ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1244" data-original-width="1114" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A7v5WH3bTXU/WnjBA3cpAdI/AAAAAAAAyMs/iEB-nlFM5_M66ay87wZfDWWCRUHX99G4ACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3510.JPG" width="357" /></a></div><br />Yes! Wasn't it crazy what happened to Nick Foles at the end of the game last night? You don't know what I'm talking about... check it out...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2MwmD3JO_xA/WnjBXSIZ5DI/AAAAAAAAyM0/aYqB8hsow9E-qO5-WOj9VueJypd_McJ_ACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9aa.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="1099" height="296" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2MwmD3JO_xA/WnjBXSIZ5DI/AAAAAAAAyM0/aYqB8hsow9E-qO5-WOj9VueJypd_McJ_ACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9aa.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Ha! I knew it. Haha. I wasn't that keen on Justin Timberlake's performance but I thought this was kinda weird...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xESOuxuYc_c/WnjBlh1mmMI/AAAAAAAAyM8/trg9Y6GFM20qvr_rb9uGkcadduBx81xhwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3508.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="750" height="208" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xESOuxuYc_c/WnjBlh1mmMI/AAAAAAAAyM8/trg9Y6GFM20qvr_rb9uGkcadduBx81xhwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3508.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />Whatever. Haha. And what about Brady's fumble?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UyNny328kBo/WnjBsjWO0wI/AAAAAAAAyNA/4FmdwZedqtMIo55pKVcRPSKdmX7k24n_wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UyNny328kBo/WnjBsjWO0wI/AAAAAAAAyNA/4FmdwZedqtMIo55pKVcRPSKdmX7k24n_wCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3507.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />He almost had it. Poor Brady... not! Speaking of football and stuff, it's time to talk football with my good friend Jeff one more time this season...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X6GwvReb128/WnjJYyPhVKI/AAAAAAAAyPM/UwcCbZygH-UnDM8_7SsLt88fW6MI4PYogCLcBGAs/s1600/21175267_10155181387409355_2128367425_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="574" height="216" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X6GwvReb128/WnjJYyPhVKI/AAAAAAAAyPM/UwcCbZygH-UnDM8_7SsLt88fW6MI4PYogCLcBGAs/s400/21175267_10155181387409355_2128367425_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me: </b>Hey there, Jeff, welcome to the Phile. How are you?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> Always great to be back here on the Phile to wrap another season of Phootball Talk. I'm doing okay. How about yourself?<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I'm hanging in there. So, I am sooo happy the Eagles beat the Patriots. I didn't see Joe Walsh play though. Haha. What was impressive was they won with a backup QB... Nick Foles. That's pretty cool... has that ever happened before?<br /><br /><b>Jeff: </b>The Eagles defense certainly didn't take it easy on Brady, that's for sure. As far as I can remember, this has only happened once before. The Washington Redskins and Doug Williams in 1987. Williams replaced an injured Jay Schroeder. Just like Foles, he won MVP of the Super Bowl that year.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What was your favorite commercial, Jeff? The New York Giants might have gone 3-13 this year but they deserve a Super Bowl ring for their commercial. I never saw <i>Dirty Dancing</i> but I was told the dance was identical to the dance in the movie. Nobody puts Beckham in the corner.<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> There were several good commercials. Yes, I absolutely loved the Eli-Beckham commercial. I like the Dodge Ram Vikings going to Minnesota commercial. I enjoyed the rap battle between Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman commercial too. There were a few good ones this year.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What did you think of the <i>Solo</i> trailer?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> It was a good teaser. I just saw the full trailer that aired this morning. He will never be as good as Harrison Ford as Han, but it looks really good.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, back to the game itself... The Controversial Catch Rule made an appearance. Did you think it was a catch? I say it was.<br /><br /><b>Jeff: </b>Yes, that was a catch. He took several steps with the ball before it became dislodged on the ground, which he then picked it up. I saw several Patriot fans online bitching that the refs cost them the game. Seriously.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What did you think of Justin Timberlake's performance? He didn't really sing... just danced all over the fucking place. And why was he dressed like Negan from "The Walking Dead"?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> As far as Timberlake, I wasn't that impressed by halftime. I'm not his target audience, I didn't know all the songs he sang so it was just okay. Whoever dressed him was wrong. Cause that was hobo chic.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Did you see that teenage kid next to him who was just tweeting or something when Timberlake was next to him?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> I went back and rewatched the moment with the kid. Timberlake saw he had his phone out so he told the kid to take a selfie with him. The kid was probably posting it then. I can't say I blame him at all.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What were the highlights of the game for you, Jeff?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> I'd like to say the defense was the highlight but there was none. Other than the Patriot interception was came on a lucky bonus and the Brady sack fumble, it looked like both teams left their defenses at home. For me, the best play was the pass to Nick Foles. I woke the dog I was laughing so hard.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, how did we do with the pick? I picked the Eagles would win.<br /><br /><b>Jeff: </b>You are right, you <i>did</i> pick the Eagles to win. But you had them winning by 12 points. I picked the Patriots just to have an opposite pick from you. So we both lost.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Alright, you won this 7th year of Phootball Talk but what was the final score between us?<br /><br /><b>Jeff: </b>Overall, I won. I had 23 correct picks and 20 wrong ones. My final point total was 59. I think I did better last year. You went 17-26 with a total of 37 points. Most of my points were from Steeler wins though, which is why I have such a big win over you.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Congrats, Jeff, this was a great season. We'll do it again with the 8th season of Phootball Talk. It'll be Phootball Talk 8: Turnover. Come up with the graphic. LOL.<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> I think I have time to work on a great graphic for next season. As always it was a blast. See you next season for Phootball Talk 8. I'm sure I'll pop up before then though! I hope.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Yeah, I'm sure you will. Take care, Jeff, I will have you back on the Phile soon. Thanks again for all your hard work. You rock!<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> Have a good one!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kqVJq-3K9TY/WnjMDX1qWiI/AAAAAAAAyPY/4e7Guu72V1QjahsU6scgRyvRigePriQWwCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kqVJq-3K9TY/WnjMDX1qWiI/AAAAAAAAyPY/4e7Guu72V1QjahsU6scgRyvRigePriQWwCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_nkgwVt8e6I/WnjMOPzHNhI/AAAAAAAAyPc/mX-WsYWj3PIWMlNJhekyuXRCm4D-JhzAQCLcBGAs/s1600/Booty_b0b9d0_5945995.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_nkgwVt8e6I/WnjMOPzHNhI/AAAAAAAAyPc/mX-WsYWj3PIWMlNJhekyuXRCm4D-JhzAQCLcBGAs/s400/Booty_b0b9d0_5945995.jpg" width="223" /></a></div><br />If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, so, my son and I were talking about how we used to watch "Sesame Street" tougher when he was little. That show sure has changed in the 15 years or so. So, once again here is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UKx81M3fz-c/WnjCGzhsqPI/AAAAAAAAyNI/UjMl6wukSEcUcW2KtivMMR2la7nI4_JAQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_7e.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="386" height="248" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UKx81M3fz-c/WnjCGzhsqPI/AAAAAAAAyNI/UjMl6wukSEcUcW2KtivMMR2la7nI4_JAQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_7e.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gCUJUthpAos/WnjDEK2V_RI/AAAAAAAAyNg/uZ1JGVOd5eoe9XK8foHOVrNllMoc8_TgwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9ae.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="617" height="307" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gCUJUthpAos/WnjDEK2V_RI/AAAAAAAAyNg/uZ1JGVOd5eoe9XK8foHOVrNllMoc8_TgwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9ae.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Ernie and Bert examines Bort's turds, noting that hey contain chunks of his intestinal wall and some blood from drinking all that bleach. Then they conclude that throwing it away would be a waste of nutrients and force him to eat it.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PvU-RnO2TB4/WnjFywaKA7I/AAAAAAAAyOM/usVFrEX6iJceluWciKM2SzXJhlVf_QbNwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="583" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PvU-RnO2TB4/WnjFywaKA7I/AAAAAAAAyOM/usVFrEX6iJceluWciKM2SzXJhlVf_QbNwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div><br />This morning, President Donald Trump barely spared one tweet for the Super Bowl before launching into the Russia investigation and attacking a congressman the "New York Times" says is emerging as his "visible nemesis."<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JFUlzUi7j2o/WnjGmuqBeCI/AAAAAAAAyOc/G0XxcU6miSIaxFp8UO8RUy1-dXnBX02qACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-05%2Bat%2B4.02.55%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="500" height="190" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JFUlzUi7j2o/WnjGmuqBeCI/AAAAAAAAyOc/G0XxcU6miSIaxFp8UO8RUy1-dXnBX02qACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-05%2Bat%2B4.02.55%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />If you're keeping track at home, Trump has also used the "little" moniker on Kim Jong-un (5'7"), Marco Rubio (5'9"), and Bob Corker (5'7"). Wikipedia has no available information on the height of Adam Schiff. But back to the important stuff... Trump called Schiff one of the "biggest liars and leakers in Washington," apparently an attempt to discredit him as the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee seeks to release a new memo about the Russia investigation, one that would counter the similarly controversial one released by Republicans last week. Schiff was ready for beef...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3E1faa5YaJ0/WnjG5lfP3JI/AAAAAAAAyOg/hlnqL-EXMUcfipd2puDWTxHn4TGRCpflQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-05%2Bat%2B4.04.18%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="243" data-original-width="498" height="195" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3E1faa5YaJ0/WnjG5lfP3JI/AAAAAAAAyOg/hlnqL-EXMUcfipd2puDWTxHn4TGRCpflQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-05%2Bat%2B4.04.18%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />"Executive Time" is a reference to reports from early January that whenever "executive time" is written on Trump's daily schedule, it means "TV and Twitter time alone in the residence." Besides the fact that "[Insert Your Occupation Here] Time" is a great way to label time wasted in front of the TV, the insult and request that Trump work on the DACA crises may have struck a nerve. Trump continued tweeting, responding to the DACA jab and then praising Schiff's Republican counterpart on the Intelligence Committee: Congrats, Adam Schiff. Keep this up and your next nickname may be all your own.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-koHqjXqHNAg/WnjHW_JxqBI/AAAAAAAAyOs/3t5TsFwYqVIeGnfkpZedWeN9iIG9Jr2EQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-koHqjXqHNAg/WnjHW_JxqBI/AAAAAAAAyOs/3t5TsFwYqVIeGnfkpZedWeN9iIG9Jr2EQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Phact 1.</b> In 1958, a man decided to name his son Winner. Three years later, he had another son who he named Loser. Winner became a hardened criminal and Loser became a detective.<br /><br /><b>Phact 2. </b>An American man was arrested near the border of Afghanistan while hunting down Osama bin Laden with a sword.<br /><br /><b>Phact 3.</b> A Japanese village was spared being destroyed during the 2011 tsunami by its huge seawall, a wall that its previous mayor had been harshly criticized for building.<br /><br /><b>Phact 4. </b>Prior to their music careers, Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten would often perform Alice Cooper covers on the streets for money. People would pay them to stop.<br /><br /><b>Phact 5.</b> In 2009, Airmen Colton Read went in for gallbladder surgery and woke up with both legs amputated. Military doctors punctured his aorta and waited 8.5 hours to get him proper medical care. Read isn’t legally allowed to sue for damages.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bI9wfxko7XI/WnjIZdn4ASI/AAAAAAAAyPA/SgN5fTXYUGQ13sEnk_B2mMk3IGQot2r7ACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_38.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="400" height="376" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bI9wfxko7XI/WnjIZdn4ASI/AAAAAAAAyPA/SgN5fTXYUGQ13sEnk_B2mMk3IGQot2r7ACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_38.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today's guest is the author of "UFO FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Roswell, Aliens, Whirling Discs, and Flying Saucers," the 74th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club. Please welcome to the Phile... David J. Hogan!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w3-Q8FMbTPg/WnjMlzpzxAI/AAAAAAAAyPk/7_B4agkkDwIsdV-GYVz9JrCfwRBoLOuwwCLcBGAs/s1600/dave-hogan-stooges_auphoto_314839.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="433" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w3-Q8FMbTPg/WnjMlzpzxAI/AAAAAAAAyPk/7_B4agkkDwIsdV-GYVz9JrCfwRBoLOuwwCLcBGAs/s400/dave-hogan-stooges_auphoto_314839.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><b>Me: </b>David, welcome to the Phile. How are you, sir?<br /><br /><b>David: </b>I'm good, Jason, thanks so much for having me.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You wrote a book about the 3 Stooges, a book about <i>The Wizard of Oz</i>, and now you have a book about UFOs. You sure write about a wide range of stuff, don't you?<br /><br /><b>David:</b> Yeah, I have a wide ranging mind, Jason.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Haha. Well, I want to pheature all your books over time on the Phile. But in this UFO book you give an all inclusive guide to UFO lore. There's been so many books about UFOs written over the years, how did you get the idea to write this book?<br /><br /><b>David:</b> Well, it is an interesting question. When I sat down and first thought about this book and spent a couple of weeks on research I thought, "Dave, this might be a fools errand. This is just an enormous topic." &nbsp;<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Why is this book different from the other thousands of books about UFOs, David?<br /><br /><b>David:</b> I wanted to do a good accessible single volume handbook to on an entire phenomenon from ancient times up to present day. It talk about hard science, talk about cults, talks about hoaxes, it talks about Project Blue Book, Roswell, Kenneth Arnold, talk about the Bible and the conspiracy mindset as well. It talks about UFOs and its effect on popular culture, which is huge. So, if you only have a hours, it's in this book, about 400 pages, it's pretty jammed packed.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, who was Kenneth Arnold, David?<br /><br /><b>David:</b>&nbsp;On June 24th, 1947, Kenneth Arnold was a pilot and he first reported that he had seen what he believed was a UFO. Now this was a few weeks before the Roswell incident that everybody knows about. In the summer of '47 and the interesting thing about Kenneth Arnold was that he spotted nine flying discs above the Cascade Mountains in Washington state, and he flew his own private plane. Kenneth Arnold was a solid citizen. Thirty-years old, handsome, an eagle scout as a kid, was a successful business man, and a straight arrow.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Hmmm. So, what did he report seeing?<br /><br /><b>David: </b>He saw nine flying discs what he described was crescent shaped, and the story spread awful quickly and since entered folklore.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> And then Roswell, New Mexico had the most famous UFO sightings, or story. What was that about?<br /><br /><b>David: </b>There was something that crashed in the New Mexico desert not too far from an air force base and it was discovered by a ranch foreman named William Brazel and it's a tangled story. And in the 70 years it has only become more tangled over time but it is disputable that something fell out of the sky. Skeptics would tell us it was a weather balloon. Semi skeptics would say it was a secret American aircraft or even a captured Soviet aircraft. Then imaginative people, or people with imagination, say it was something other. That is was from out of this world.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>When did Hollywood or movie makes start to cash in on this Roswell stuff?<br /><br /><b>David:</b> Right after that. In fact, the first of these movies came out in 1950, and it's called <i>The Flying Saucer</i>, and it was a mini budget independent picture by a man named Mikel Conrad and it has a red scare aspect to it which was normal for the times. The UFO phenomenon evolved after that and in '51 Howard Hawks came out with <i>The Thing From Another World</i> and its still a picture that is very tense and suspenseful. It was the first to link the physical aspect of a flying saucer, its shape with very unpleasant extraterrestrials. That picture had enormous impact on moviegoers and over the years on the larger culture as well.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What do you think the ultimate UFO movie is, David?<br /><br /><b>David: </b>From the golden age I think it has to <i>Earth Verses The Flying Saucer</i>.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>What about <i>The Day That The Earth Stood Still</i>? Wasn't those filmmakers trying to help? Haha.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>David: </b>Yes, they were. In fact, the first appearance of the saucer is a thrilling sequence that lands outside the Mall in Washington D.C. That film linked flying saucers and extraterrestrial and government. Those three elements are hugely in play now of course.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What about Orson Well's "War of the Worlds"? When did that play into all this?<br /><br /><b>David: </b>October 30th, 1938, the day before Halloween, and in my research actually, Jason, I found that although people did panic it was not really a nationwide panic. It was pretty much limited to portions of New Jersey, and the New York state but the people that panicked really panicked.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>How long have UFO signings been happening altogether?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>David:</b> Over two millennia, Jason.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You put together a wonderful international timeline in your book. Can you tell us about that timeline?<br /><br /><b>David:</b> I put it together because as I said, it's a millennia long phenomenon. It's mostly strongly rooted in its early days in the Bible, suggestions of unusual aircraft are numerous books of the Bible, mostly in "Ezekiel" or "Revelations," flaming chariots, flying cylinders, things of that nature. Though I feel there were biblical writers expressing godly ideas in imaginative terms. There are a lot of other people that feel that this is E.T. stuff and it's in the Bible. Fascinating, isn't it?<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Yeah, it's crazy. You address Stephen Hawking has been pretty outspoken about alien life and stuff, hasn't he? You talk about that in the book. Do you think aliens will ever arrive on earth?<br /><br /><b>David: </b>Yeah, I talk about alien attitudes about us. On one hand they might see us as earth worms living on a planet as explorable, on the other hand they might really be spooked by us by what we do so well is kill each other. If an alien civilization had solid sense they really might not want a visit with us because it'll turn out badly for everybody.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Some of my readers might have seen a UFO, but don't know where to report it. In your book you explain what they should do. Can you tell us here?<br /><br /><b>David:</b> Yeah. In the back of the book I have a multi-page a UFO spotters checklist, as I call it. I won't get all into it now other than to say it's a good useful guide about what to do in order to be credible and in order to document what you seen. It's about the surrounding environment and about the weather, and if you had a close encounter, if you seen some alien creatures, I tell you how to document it, report it to authorities, or a UFO investigatory group. Also, under a section I call "Aftermath," you should so a checklist of any physical symptoms that you may of had. Above all I stress ones own personal safety. If an extraterrestrial extends his hand think twice about taking it, and don't let them get behind you.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Hahaha. You gotta watch out from those probes. David, thanks so much for being on the Phile. Please come back again and I'll pheature your other books. Take care, and keep writing.<br /><br /><b>David: </b>Thanks again, Jason, for having me.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5fY95j9Qj1U/WnjO5nH_pYI/AAAAAAAAyP0/d1_Piwb7eYc_vYcNW5zcsU0H-LggB-WVwCLcBGAs/s1600/00129007_1024x1024.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5fY95j9Qj1U/WnjO5nH_pYI/AAAAAAAAyP0/d1_Piwb7eYc_vYcNW5zcsU0H-LggB-WVwCLcBGAs/s320/00129007_1024x1024.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><br />That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Jeff Trelewicz and of course David J. Hogan. The Phile will be back on Sunday with... get this, this is fucking cool... Alicia Keys. Yup. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--QP4TaTYHaE/WnjPqTlUq-I/AAAAAAAAyP8/-KWzcOQyzlQk0e_l2VEfamWpQVhcaOm0gCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9b2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="525" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--QP4TaTYHaE/WnjPqTlUq-I/AAAAAAAAyP8/-KWzcOQyzlQk0e_l2VEfamWpQVhcaOm0gCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9b2.jpeg" width="290" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-64720233370189768702018-02-04T12:05:00.002-05:002018-02-04T12:05:57.408-05:00Pheaturing Gary Numan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K45kA44ESqo/Wncd6S6N7SI/AAAAAAAAyGo/XgDLh6VUPaMnaXRbw6mvlpMdSx6K3rimQCLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K45kA44ESqo/Wncd6S6N7SI/AAAAAAAAyGo/XgDLh6VUPaMnaXRbw6mvlpMdSx6K3rimQCLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hey </b>there, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Sunday... not just any Sunday... it's Super Bowl Sunday. I'm an Eagles fan for one day. I have to say I can't believe it's February... January 2018 was somehow the longest month that has ever existed in the history of THE WORLD. If you don't believe me, ask your nearest scientist or historian, and then proceed to alter their answer into "yes." But seriously, 2018 is already shaping up to be a weird and disorienting year (which feels expected at this point), which is why it's crucial to keep a solid sense of humor in tow.<br /><b>The </b>NFL has rejected an ad for their Super Bowl program and confirmed that, despite weeks of actual football taking center stage in football headlines, the kneeling controversy will never fade away. The NFL would reportedly not allow a veterans organization called AMVETS to take out a full-page ad in their printed Super Bowl program that asks the audience to #PleaseStand, saying the "game program is designed for fans to commemorate and celebrate the game, players, teams and Super Bowl." "It's never been a place for advertising that could be considered by some as a political statement," continued NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy in a statement. American Veterans leader Marion Polk responded in an open letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The message in question makes up in simplicity what it lacks in subtlety. The protests began last year when Colin Kaepernick kneeled to protest mistreatment of black Americans, particularly by police. You might remember the issue escalating this year when President Donald Trump asked the crowd at his rally, "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now.'" The issue of national anthem protests then blew up, with players across the league kneeling in solidarity, Trump responding to the protests, and everyone getting really angry and upset. Hard to keep politics out of football. "American Veterans appreciated the opportunity to place an ad in the Super Bowl LII program at the invitation of the National Football League," wrote AMVETS leader Marion Polk in response to the NFL's decision, "but that appreciation quickly gave way to deep disappointment when we learned your staff had refused to publish our ad because of its simple, two-word message." According to the "L.A. Times," the NFL in turn claimed they tried to work with AMVETS to create a league-approved advertisement for the program. "We looked to work with the organization and asked it to consider other options such as 'Please honor our Veterans,'" said McCarthy. "They chose not to and we asked it to consider using 'Please Stand for Our Veterans.' Production was delayed as we awaited an answer." Meanwhile, the Veterans of Foreign Wars managed to get their "We Stand for Veterans" ad approved by the NFL. "Freedom of speech works both ways," Polk concluded in his open letter. "We respect the rights of those who choose to protest, as these rights are precisely what our members have found... and in many cases died... for. But imposing corporate censorship to deny that same right to those veterans who have secured it for us all is reprehensible and totally beyond the pale." Just as football has managed to make headlines unrelated to protest and social justice in favor of headlines about Tom Brady and referee injustice, the issue of kneeling comes roaring back. What if players kneel during the Super Bowl anthem? What if Brady kneels to run out the clock at the end of a possession? At this point, even that would probably cause a firestorm.<br /><b>New</b> England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is getting dragged by people who think that he kissed his son on the lips for too long. Yes, for real. Brady has a Facebook docuseries called "Tom vs. Time." In the third episode, according to Perez Hilton, Brady asks for a kiss from his oldest son, John (a.k.a. Jack). Apparently his son gave him a quick peck, and when Brady asked for a longer one, the kid delivered. &nbsp;People thought the length of the kiss was "weird." This isn't strange behavior for Brady, he's a kiss-on-the-lips kind of guy. He kissed his father on the lips after winning the Super Bowl, and people generally freaked out about that, too. This is just how some people express their affection, and there's no need for shaming. It's his family, for Pete's sake! Said that I don't like him, or his team, and I hope they lose today.<br /><b>The</b> much beloved pop icon and former NSync member who gifted us with the solo hits as "Sexy Back," and "Rock Your Body" will be headlining the Super Bowl 52 halftime show on tonight, but that doesn't mean he supports everything about the NFL. During a press briefing on Thursday, Justin Timberlake answered honestly when reporters asked if he'd allow his 2-year-old son Silas to play football. "He will never play football," Timberlake jokingly answered when asked. Although he didn't dig deep into the reasoning behind that answer, Timberlake went on to elude that yes, he would support his son's interest no matter what. However, football doesn't seem to be anywhere near the top of the list. "If he wants to get into the arts or sports, yeah, I would fully support that. I think I can hopefully offer him some advice on what to do and what not to do," Timberlake went on to clarify. Recent years have shed more light on the concussion rates and risks of CTE imposed on football players. In fact, a study in 2017 revealed that 99 percent of former NFL players who donated their brains to research suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. However, regardless of the validity of Timberlake's concern for his son, expressing it during a Super Bowl pressing likely didn't please the NFL.<br /><b>Anyone </b>familiar with Twitter knows that retweeting a message out of anger can easily backlash. Such is the case for Piers Morgan, who angrily tweeted a picture of himself eating Trump's ass, only to commit the ultimate self-own. The illustration in question was originally posted on Thursday night by the BBC2 satirical show "The Mash Report," as a playful critique of the brown-nosing present in Morgan's recent interview with Trump. Unsurprisingly, Morgan was none so pleased with both the critique of his interviewing skills and the graphic illustration.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xzqKXyLdq5o/WncheUdz9UI/AAAAAAAAyG8/NMZO9f52b_MqTth3E995tvPP8-DaYwSjQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-04%2Bat%2B10.05.26%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="499" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xzqKXyLdq5o/WncheUdz9UI/AAAAAAAAyG8/NMZO9f52b_MqTth3E995tvPP8-DaYwSjQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-04%2Bat%2B10.05.26%2BAM.png" width="376" /></a></div><br />However, his insistence on tweeting the illustration was a great way to unintentionally play himself. Because of his retweet, even <i>more</i> people have set their eyes on the disturbing but blessed illustration. In "The Mash Report" segment, the comedian Rachael Parris critiqued the staging of Morgan's interview with Trump. She concluded that Morgan's optics appeared similar to anilingus when compared to other typical political interviews. "Can you see the different style of interrogation there?” Parris teased, inferring that Morgan went far too easy on the commander-in-chief. Morgan coped by tweeting about the image not just once, but three times total. You mad, bro?! Twitter ate up the image even more avidly than Morgan ate Trump's booty. Happy Sunday, everyone!<br /><b>If</b> you have a mom, you'll want to call her immediately after reading this story. "The Bachelor" contestant Bekah Martinez was reported missing by her mother after not returning her calls for six days. According to the "North Coast Journal," Martinez was reported missing by her mother on November 18th, who hadn't heard from her daughter since November 12th when she reportedly "went to Humboldt County to work on a marijuana farm." However, the missing dates perfectly aligned with "The Bachelor" shooting schedule. This makes perfect sense, considering contestants go without cell phones or social media during the course of the show. When "The North Coast Journal" ran a story about 35 people missing from Humboldt County, a fan of "The Bachelor" recognized Martinez from the line-up. After the fan wrote into the newspaper, a public information officer from The Humboldt County sheriff's office was able to confirm that Martinez was in fact competing on the bachelor. Of course, none of this would have occurred if Martinez' mom was a diehard fan of watching "The Bachelor." Martinez has since been removed from the missing person's list, but I still have some questions about the pot farm. The jury is still out on whether she was actually planning to work on the weed farm after her television stint. I wonder what this Bekah Martinez looks like. Let's see...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AfZ1mQN5E1M/WncjsWD28QI/AAAAAAAAyHI/orCiN4j-G9MncO6O_J_gLVKETi8RSxJoACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-04%2Bat%2B10.14.48%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="483" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AfZ1mQN5E1M/WncjsWD28QI/AAAAAAAAyHI/orCiN4j-G9MncO6O_J_gLVKETi8RSxJoACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-04%2Bat%2B10.14.48%2BAM.png" width="326" /></a></div><br />Okay, she's cute.<br /><b>Ever</b> run into a celebrity and what you're wearing is a crazy coincidence? It happened to this guy...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ldMc5twPzPI/WnclmQrxGzI/AAAAAAAAyHc/x2iKbix9EYsfyq1_w-y_PBrUEcvEl1augCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_985.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1143" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ldMc5twPzPI/WnclmQrxGzI/AAAAAAAAyHc/x2iKbix9EYsfyq1_w-y_PBrUEcvEl1augCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_985.jpeg" width="313" /></a></div><br />That's funny. I do not like Bill Nye, and this might be one of the reasons why...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fcAY9s0as90/WncmAVnF5BI/AAAAAAAAyHg/UMzGPvKJ8LQkXjFrZ_TxYdXNdhwyB94twCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_3b.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="617" height="397" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fcAY9s0as90/WncmAVnF5BI/AAAAAAAAyHg/UMzGPvKJ8LQkXjFrZ_TxYdXNdhwyB94twCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_3b.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />That's not very nice, Bill. I'll tell you my Bill Nye story some other time. Did you ever notice things are getting smaller and smaller nowadays? Check this out...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LCSzao4PIBE/WncmuhRh3MI/AAAAAAAAyHw/zWYH0FsfwGcOVJTFToYeXBlNjGLb33RmgCLcBGAs/s1600/World_fb3bc9_6353489.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LCSzao4PIBE/WncmuhRh3MI/AAAAAAAAyHw/zWYH0FsfwGcOVJTFToYeXBlNjGLb33RmgCLcBGAs/s400/World_fb3bc9_6353489.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />That'll be the smallest pot of tea ever. If you're thinking of cheating on your loved one you might wanna think twice after seeing this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8JbkDNJOcsY/WncncHcWuZI/AAAAAAAAyH4/v7AfDdVhizMrJL_kxV5Bbw3GKWhCAo0zQCLcBGAs/s1600/30-F04ciJ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8JbkDNJOcsY/WncncHcWuZI/AAAAAAAAyH4/v7AfDdVhizMrJL_kxV5Bbw3GKWhCAo0zQCLcBGAs/s400/30-F04ciJ.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I can't really read it but I bet it's not nice. Some people have such bad luck... but not as bad as what happened to the person as this happened too...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gN3yD-giszU/WncoCAnldoI/AAAAAAAAyIA/BtRLXB3zNaIAsb8Xy-vNrx5MjEo8N0hngCLcBGAs/s1600/Mama_aa23ce_6467585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gN3yD-giszU/WncoCAnldoI/AAAAAAAAyIA/BtRLXB3zNaIAsb8Xy-vNrx5MjEo8N0hngCLcBGAs/s400/Mama_aa23ce_6467585.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Actually I don't really see what that is. I don't get it. If I had a TARDIS I would go back to the Super Bowl when the Giants beat the Patriots.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0TsZjri0A88/Wnc3a3vzKMI/AAAAAAAAyK8/FYhl8nQ7ZdQnYlHg3oj1BGs4P-i57biPACLcBGAs/s1600/gettyimages-138328825.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0TsZjri0A88/Wnc3a3vzKMI/AAAAAAAAyK8/FYhl8nQ7ZdQnYlHg3oj1BGs4P-i57biPACLcBGAs/s400/gettyimages-138328825.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />So, a lot people think Facebook has only been around for the last ten years or so, but it has been around a lot longer. This ad proves it...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F3PRlVoOI4M/Wnc3q3bcOzI/AAAAAAAAyLA/F_a9BLpe5ysi5XD5z4H_4Ipeyl8k-3IHwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2997.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="550" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F3PRlVoOI4M/Wnc3q3bcOzI/AAAAAAAAyLA/F_a9BLpe5ysi5XD5z4H_4Ipeyl8k-3IHwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2997.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />Valentine's Day is ten days away and back in the day there were come really creepy cards you can give someone. I showed a few last year, I thought I'll show a few more this year...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wan4mzVBJzM/Wnco4-c2cjI/AAAAAAAAyIQ/whbqu2p-blo4MxydO7oCQspJ-TER2SSNgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_98d.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="595" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wan4mzVBJzM/Wnco4-c2cjI/AAAAAAAAyIQ/whbqu2p-blo4MxydO7oCQspJ-TER2SSNgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_98d.jpeg" width="385" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>That looks like me a bit when I was a kid. So, I love pie graphs and I was wondering something, so I put it into a pie graph...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kBtXXLiEZ-g/Wncp0YwXGqI/AAAAAAAAyIg/iIGB5YOeHh4jTSt7RKI2VOEANJKnYqZgwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_984.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="485" height="337" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kBtXXLiEZ-g/Wncp0YwXGqI/AAAAAAAAyIg/iIGB5YOeHh4jTSt7RKI2VOEANJKnYqZgwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_984.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Haha. So, my son and I were talking the other day about when we used to watch "Sesame Street" together when he was little. I'm glad he's not little now because that show sure has changed. So, once again here's the pheature called...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2DwUyunuBlQ/WncqOxy6zhI/AAAAAAAAyIk/8w8kohoWDhAKxBX-8IWpYJ5xzwHdl8EdgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_7e.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="386" height="248" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2DwUyunuBlQ/WncqOxy6zhI/AAAAAAAAyIk/8w8kohoWDhAKxBX-8IWpYJ5xzwHdl8EdgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_7e.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LFRAay72uGA/WncrG6IDKEI/AAAAAAAAyI8/G0YHVmn27iQt5zT05V3ZRiQKHb3qeddRgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_98e.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="325" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LFRAay72uGA/WncrG6IDKEI/AAAAAAAAyI8/G0YHVmn27iQt5zT05V3ZRiQKHb3qeddRgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_98e.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Strung out on synthetic marijuana, Telly attacked Elmo and started eating him alive.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HYw1TzdBaVk/WncrNnmhINI/AAAAAAAAyJA/VOQuDGczaSk6QLdX2UNZ9VszZ21Zt8qOwCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HYw1TzdBaVk/WncrNnmhINI/AAAAAAAAyJA/VOQuDGczaSk6QLdX2UNZ9VszZ21Zt8qOwCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0KyMLRyIsxY/WncrZ7kNEPI/AAAAAAAAyJE/E3O3mgm4mIE-b3WmyU_kt6CJm-2VstOJACLcBGAs/s1600/Legendarily_aed037_6298692.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="852" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0KyMLRyIsxY/WncrZ7kNEPI/AAAAAAAAyJE/E3O3mgm4mIE-b3WmyU_kt6CJm-2VstOJACLcBGAs/s400/Legendarily_aed037_6298692.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. So, do you guys like Megan Kelly? Well, you <i>might</i> like this pheature...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uyQxvgPg_08/WncuOrWD0DI/AAAAAAAAyJY/MOL30AJaHJ89Fl-7bJC78vPuYqwJs7HTQCLcBGAs/s1600/yc6JO1507494345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="434" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uyQxvgPg_08/WncuOrWD0DI/AAAAAAAAyJY/MOL30AJaHJ89Fl-7bJC78vPuYqwJs7HTQCLcBGAs/s400/yc6JO1507494345.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><br />NBC has offered the job of anchoring February's Winter Olympics opening ceremony to Katie Couric, which, according to Page Six, led to Megyn Kelly throwing "an Olympic fit." When she signed her $23 million per year contract with NBC, Kelly apparently demanded that she not be forced to do "special events" like the winter games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. But prior to his departure in November, Matt Lauer had usually handled coverage of special events, so Kelly figured that she was next in line to get his assignments, on principle. That was clearly not the case, since the gig went instead to former "Today" co-host, Katie Couric. That allegedly made Kelly angry, enough so that she "complained to her staff, she complained to her agent, so that [NBC News chairman Andrew Lack] would hear about the fact that she was unhappy, but he didn’t care," the source told Page Six. The insider also said that Lack has come to realize that Kelly is "a diva" and that "she's not going to be part of the NBC News... inner circle.” However, an insider at NBC News told Page Six that there's "zero truth" to that rumor. He or she added that the whole idea of Kelly being upset about not hosting the opening ceremony is "laughable since [the opening ceremony is] the least desirable gig in broadcasting." The insider also said that Lack never called Kelly a "diva," and that "no one at NBC has ever heard him use the word 'diva' about anyone." Innnnnteresting.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EngRt1F8Nwk/Wncu4q8AvPI/AAAAAAAAyJg/GR5t-qcOakc8p9PZXtqQYD6rSl_jdYjZgCLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="400" height="187" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EngRt1F8Nwk/Wncu4q8AvPI/AAAAAAAAyJg/GR5t-qcOakc8p9PZXtqQYD6rSl_jdYjZgCLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-laXwEI-ZLHQ/WncvACzBxPI/AAAAAAAAyJk/zEvzSHG6Az0hPijafSkFtaHfsJUx2MWYgCLcBGAs/s1600/af59730348a7bcd8c2da919daf764f4311-FmB5JG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-laXwEI-ZLHQ/WncvACzBxPI/AAAAAAAAyJk/zEvzSHG6Az0hPijafSkFtaHfsJUx2MWYgCLcBGAs/s400/af59730348a7bcd8c2da919daf764f4311-FmB5JG.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Ha! So, President Trump falsely said his State of the Union address was the most watched ever. Guess whose really was?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PwXhRG9l0aA/Wncvcmr5I7I/AAAAAAAAyJs/pqpwS0t4EwA2U4Zdv09K-MAGSQpf4uqfACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="583" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PwXhRG9l0aA/Wncvcmr5I7I/AAAAAAAAyJs/pqpwS0t4EwA2U4Zdv09K-MAGSQpf4uqfACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div><br />On Thursday morning, President Trump took to Twitter to thank the American people for making his State of the Union address the most watched in history. Only one problem: it wasn't.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H6QM2I3QbVQ/WncwFJaDUcI/AAAAAAAAyJ8/eeoE7Ke7ctcN9pcwTzf3r5K1A9r0sNjyACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-04%2Bat%2B11.08.30%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="236" data-original-width="500" height="188" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H6QM2I3QbVQ/WncwFJaDUcI/AAAAAAAAyJ8/eeoE7Ke7ctcN9pcwTzf3r5K1A9r0sNjyACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-04%2Bat%2B11.08.30%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Although the numbers in Trump's tweet is accurate, the claim that his speech brought in the "highest number in history" is just a total lie. Even more embarrassing? He wasn't even close to the top spot. According to "Time," three former presidents... Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton... all got higher ratings from their first State of the Union than Trump did: 48 million watched Obama's State of the Union in 2010; 51.7 million tuned in for Bush in 2002; and Bill Clinton narrowly beat Trump by having 45.8 million people tune in for his address in 1994. At this time time President Trump has yet to issue a correction to his inaccurate tweet. Oy, this is going to be the Inauguration Day crowd controversy all over again, isn't it? Does anyone know where Sean Spicer is?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dk_SheT77J8/Wncwq99_t2I/AAAAAAAAyKE/czBxJqCuDc81mhTl8NyOS_ZRvx-2XgPGQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-04%2Bat%2B11.11.02%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="591" height="236" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dk_SheT77J8/Wncwq99_t2I/AAAAAAAAyKE/czBxJqCuDc81mhTl8NyOS_ZRvx-2XgPGQCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-02-04%2Bat%2B11.11.02%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Oh. Right.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PEkUWS60Hew/WncztSRHlRI/AAAAAAAAyKk/usO6XLwHVMULTK80cHZ9BV8M5ub13vJRQCLcBGAs/s1600/yoursign-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PEkUWS60Hew/WncztSRHlRI/AAAAAAAAyKk/usO6XLwHVMULTK80cHZ9BV8M5ub13vJRQCLcBGAs/s400/yoursign-41.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />The 74th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KD2oGWkJ1r0/Wncz56rguxI/AAAAAAAAyKo/SpHagF0hZ94MrRWc_dmWkUEjo9Z7WUt6gCLcBGAs/s1600/00129007_1024x1024.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KD2oGWkJ1r0/Wncz56rguxI/AAAAAAAAyKo/SpHagF0hZ94MrRWc_dmWkUEjo9Z7WUt6gCLcBGAs/s320/00129007_1024x1024.jpeg" width="212" /></a></div><br />David will be the guest on the Phile tomorrow. And now for some Super Bowl...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v9XR4akxOaQ/WncxA6fRrpI/AAAAAAAAyKM/Fdr6r2RfplAkQHRbICSypmt8yLwMDIjIACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v9XR4akxOaQ/WncxA6fRrpI/AAAAAAAAyKM/Fdr6r2RfplAkQHRbICSypmt8yLwMDIjIACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Phact 1. </b>A North Carolina man owns the only known recording of Super Bowl I, as CBS and NBC didn’t save it. The NFL countered his $1 million offer for the taping with $30,000, then later refused to buy it at all, yet warned him he’ll face legal action if he sells it to anyone else.<br /><br /><b>Phact 2.</b> The Super Bowl has required national anthem vocals to be pre-recorded since 1993 when Garth Brooks declined to pre-record and then refused to sing live until a dispute over debuting a music video during the game could be settled, resulting in a delayed kickoff.<br /><br /><b>Phact 3. </b>The Junípero Serra High School JV football team recorded a historically bad season in which they failed to win a game or even score a touchdown yet they never attempted to start their backup quarterback. That backup quarterback they refused to start is 5 times Super Bowl champion, Tom Brady.<br /><br /><b>Phact 4. </b>In 2014, during the Super Bowl and Puppy Bowl, Nat Geo Wild showed the Fish Bowl, a 4-hour clip of a goldfish swimming in a bowl.<br /><br /><b>Phact 5. </b>Because the NFL owns and enforces the trademark for the term “Super Bowl,” almost all ads and commercial uses will instead reference “The Big Game” or something similar. Colbert even used “The Supurb Owl” in 2014.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CSoqL0ENfKk/Wncyz-0mKtI/AAAAAAAAyKY/nc7d_9clicEVnP3udSETZF64rA6IREJLwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_84.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="300" height="376" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CSoqL0ENfKk/Wncyz-0mKtI/AAAAAAAAyKY/nc7d_9clicEVnP3udSETZF64rA6IREJLwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_84.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today's pheatured guest is an English singer, songwriter, composer, musician and record producer whose latest album "Savage (Songs from a Broken World)" is available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Please welcome to the Phile the one and only... Gary Numan.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xb1EnopEwnc/WnczlSOvt4I/AAAAAAAAyKg/5wYANhBqXTE1FifFEMjCG2mxvkx9TCH-gCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_938.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="735" data-original-width="955" height="307" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xb1EnopEwnc/WnczlSOvt4I/AAAAAAAAyKg/5wYANhBqXTE1FifFEMjCG2mxvkx9TCH-gCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_938.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hey, Gary, welcome to the Phile. It's great to have you here. How are you?<br /><br /><b>Gary:</b> It's my pleasure. Thank you.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I was surprised to find out you have a new album, Gary. Is this your first record in awhile?<br /><br /><b>Gary:</b> No, this is a follow up to my album "Splinter (Songs From a Broken Mind)," which did well for me and received rave reviews. I got into the charts again which is something that hasn't happened in a very long time so when something like that happened I spent five minutes going, "Yippee, that's great." Then I spent the next three years thinking, "Now I have to do it again." It's all very good having something that does well. It wraps up the pressure of the next one so I have been pretty stressed about this new one to be honest.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, how did you decide to make this the sequel album? Was it hard to do?<br /><br /><b>Gary:</b> No, it wasn't that long ago I did the other one so musically I was in a similar place. I worked with producer Ade Fenton again so there is a definitely thread to it. That's really why I gave to the same kind of sub-title. I felt like it was the extension of the one before but lyrically of course it's an all different album altogether. "Splinter" was all personal with all the stuff going on with me, this one is not at all really. Well, there is a song called "Bed of Thorns" which is about the pressure of trying to write "Savage" after "Splinter." That's the first song I wrote for this so it got off to a good start with that one. Ha ha.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I have to ask you about the first single from the album... "My Name is Ruin." I thought your name was Gary. Hahaha. That album has a kinda middle eastern sounding section in it, which was surprising in a way. Was that what you were going for?<br /><br /><b>Gary:</b> I've always been interested in Arabian, middle eastern music for a long time and this song has the tiniest pinch of salt and pepper flavouring to it. I always intended to do an album that was very much that way. I never really done to, and I certainly never did it with "Savage." There was a little bit with "Splinter," so there has been little things of it that I have done in the past but not a lot. With this one I tried to do it a little bit, but it's a long way from a full-blown eastern influence album. That coincides with the vibe of it, what it's all about... the future desert like apocalypse. Even my tattoos are all Arabian so I have always been into the whole thing really.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>The album has a story, right? You kinda just mentioned it, but what is the story behind the album, Gary?<br /><br /><b>Gary: </b>The story behind the album is cultures have essentially merged... there is no east and west anymore mostly because what happened: this post global warming apocalypse. People were far too busy just surviving than worrying what language you speak or whatever. In the world, what book it comes from, the ongoing, which will hopefully become a book, English has become the language but the writing has become a little more eastern. The book's not finished so all I've been doing is stealing half finished ideas, lifting them across to the album, and trying to make a musical version of what the book is going to be. It's not actually finished, but it's getting there. When Trump came along and did his Paris accord thing, pulling out of that, that gave me a focus on the story which I really hadn't had before. I haven't really decided why the world was going to be the way it was, I thought I'd figured that out later but Trump came along and I thought that makes sense. He'd be the trigger. Someone that's awfully powerful but makes an extremely stupid decision just at a key moment the whole world just topples into the abyss and it all made sense. It made the story makes sense and helped pull the album together. For the world it's a terrible thing but for me it was really useful. Ha ha ha.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> How long have you been working on this whole project, Gary?<br /><br /><b>Gary: </b>I've been working on it for years which is embarrassing. You see, I've got childlike ambitions to be a novelist at some point in the future. That's how I want to end my days. I had a brief flirt with that I might get into doing film scores, which is part of the reason I moved to America, which was to satisfy that little longing. As much as I love putting the music to a film, I don't like all the politics with it. I'm now too old to get into all that crap. As I get older I want life to get more fun, not more stressful. It's stressful enough as it is, making an album and having kids and all that. I don't want to add to it by getting into a business that isn't worth it really. It's not a worthy aggregation so I switched back to book for ever, and I started to panic about my career. I tried to figure out what I should do next, and that's when I thought I should do film scores. I'm going to carry on doing what I'm doing for as long as I can rather than engineer a transition to something else which is what I was trying to do. I'll keep this going then if I EVER get myself to finish the first book, the "Savage" one, then hopefully will then have a momentum of its own... or I'm shot at it and then go back to doing film scores.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You've been writing songs for a long time, Gary, you must still like doing that. Does songwriting come easy still?<br /><br /><b>Gary:</b> I write songs but I don't see that as a particularly worthy skill. A lot of lot of people can do it and thousands of people are churning songs out, so it's a pretty easy thing to do really. But telling stories is not easy at all, it's a completely different discipline. I'd be really proud of if I was able to do that. I had fun writing songs and I nada brilliant life because of writing songs but I never felt particularly worthy. I would with a book, I'd feel I was pretty cool.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, your music has a lot of keyboards so I am guessing you write on keyboards, am I right?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Gary: </b>Yeah, pretty much, not everything but pretty much. Once I have the melody and structure of a song, it's almost impossible to mess it up. The song comes from a melody itself and that's just me and a piano really, and when I get that right the rest of it becomes easier. If I don't get that right I polish to for months and it's still going to be a turd. Ha ha.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, what comes first, music or the lyrics?<br /><br /><b>Gary: </b>The lyrics come at the end of the process... not the very end of the recording but during the end of the writing process. That part only takes days anyway. For example: Monday morning, take the kids to school, come home, do some email and things, get that out of the way, go into the studio, and write a melody, get the arrangements sorted out and maybe out some simple drum grooves on it to give it some sort of pace of whatever, the next day I flesh it out a bit more, if that goes really well I do this gobbidy-gook vocals. I sing along to the song, which I worked out in the piano which is usually quite rigid. When I sing it properly I do a lot more with it, flirt around and I find other things come to mind as well. I don't have any words at that point, so I just sing nonsense, but I feel in that certain words of lines pop out, feeling natural because the music is there now and the whole vibe of the thing is beginning to take shape. It doesn't usually happen, but it usually does actually without knowing what the song is going to be about. If I write the lyric first I have to shoehorn it into a melody that doesn't really need that many words or maybe needs a whole lot more. Someone who is a great singer can sing anything, I'm not, so I have to be careful.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, I was reading your bio and I discovered something that surprised the fuck outta me about you. I don't know if you want to talk about it but you have Aspergers. How does that effect your songwriting?<br /><br /><b>Gary: </b>Yeah, I have Aspergers so I have a very logical brain. What I think helps me in particular I'm pretty clear what sort of music I want to make in general. That means there are a whole load of snare drums for example, that I don't entertain, so I can cut 80% of them out completely. I do my research before, I packages of software and I go through it, and spend weeks into the studio just listening to stuff, before I even start to write songs. In that part of the process I am able to eliminate a whole of stuff. I make a short list of stuff I really love and what I think will sort my sort of music. I create the palette that I'm going to use for that particular album, and I stay within it. It makes it quicker as I don't have to go through everything every time.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, how did you first get into playing synthesizers, Gary?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Gary:</b> I started off in a three-piece punk band I was on guitar and vocals and my mate Paul on bass and my uncle Jess playing drums. We would put all the gear in my car and I would go into the studio to say hello to the manager while the other two loaded the gear and inside I saw a mini Moog in the corner... I've never seen one before. I thought that looked cool and asked if I could have a go on that. I had no ice what I was doing, and I had no idea how to set it up, but I turned it on and pressed a key on whatever sound it was left on and it blew my head off. I never heard anything that powerful, Jason. The room shook like it was going to fall in on itself. By the time they unloaded the gear I was done with punk. But we had all these songs and we were there for three days, so what did we do? What we did was instead of playing guitar I played the synth. Luckily they let me use that synthesizer. I actually thought it was a hired one but I read an interview with the man that owned the studio and he claimed it was theirs, that it belonged to the studio. I don't know what the truth is now, but anyway, it wasn't mine. I went back with this pseudo electronic hybrid... and I had to argue with the record company to release it because it wasn't what they wanted.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, would you say you're the electric pioneer, that you are the biggest synth fanatic?<br /><br /><b>Gary: </b>No. I love them, love the sound that comes out of them, but I don't really know that much about them, I don't really care. I don't care what sort of oscillators its got, I don't care what the filter envelope is, or anything like that. I had so many arguments with people about this. People would talk about the difference between analogue and digital as if it matters. Who gives a shit really. What does it matter what makes the noise? It doesn't. The only thing that matters is is it a good noise. I don't care if its my mum screaming or my girlfriend having a go at me or an analogue synthesizer or me dragging a bit of concrete across the floor and recording that. It's all about finding sounds, unusual sounds, things that sound cool. I build up sounds in my machinery and find a way to turn those sounds into music. I have got a sound of me dragging a piece of concrete across the floor actually and it made quite a cool noise. I put that into a sampler and I made it sound like a 200 foot dragon. Then I thought how am I going to get that in song, and then I found a way to make that weird noise musical. If that's what you are bothered about then get out of music. Don't have a go at me because I think analogue sucks. I actually don't care.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Your first hit was "Are Friends Electric?" What is it like having that first hit single?<br /><br /><b>Gary:</b> It was five and a quarter minutes long, to long for a single, didn't have a chorus really, you couldn't dance to it, don't tick any boxes whatsoever for being a hit single, and didn't get play listed. It was number one for two weeks before they play listed it. There was quite a lot of resistance to electronic music when it first came out. No one could believe it happened. They made 20,000 picture discs of "Are Friends Electric?" which was a new technology that only just came out, so you got a brand new technology or gimmick, whatever you want to call it, but rather than using it on some big band they used it on a totally unknown like me, it was a weird sort of music that nobody had heard before, it was a bizarre little song that was never going to get played, only sold 3000 copies. Whoever made that decision has made my entire life, honest to god. I never found out who that was. That one decision to do that was enough to sell enough singles and got me to the lowest reaches of the chart. At the time "Top of the Pops" had a thing called "Bubbling Under" which they played a record that wasn't in the charts. They only did it for a short while, but they were doing that then and that week it was either me or Simple Minds, we were both bubbling under. I am told that "Top of the Pops" thought my band, which was called Tubeway Army was a more interesting name than Simple Minds and we got the short feather than them, just based on the name. So, I got someone in the record company making an extraordinary decision got it that far, "Top of the Pops" made a decision, and then it got to number one. And here I am at nearly 60, and I have been doing this my whole entire life. Those two people changed my life beyond measure. I've never felt talented in my life, but I've been really lucky.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b>&nbsp;Wow! Okay, so, your biggest hit which most of my readers would know of, is "Cars." What was the creation of that song like?<br /><b><br /></b><b>Gary:</b> I picked up a bass because I wanted to learn how to play bass better so I could tell my bass player what I wanted more accurately because he's a much better bass player than I would ever be. I get back to my mum's house, I open this case and I take this bass guitar out of the case, I put it on my lap and I played the "Cars" tune. Honest to god, the first eight notes I played were the first eight notes of "Cars." Half an hour later I had the lyrics, and now I got a song. With that song I've been a lucky little shit.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b>&nbsp;That's true. Gary, thanks so much for being on the Phile, I know you have to go. When your book comes out please come back. I hope this was fun.<br /><br /><b>Gary:</b> Will do. This <i>was</i> fun, it was a pleasure.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EEu52AgUQSo/Wnc6pnFbuvI/AAAAAAAAyLQ/-FMzea0EYtwzNo12N2sfZyQIvh-ILN-jgCLcBGAs/s1600/51Onujx66CL._SS500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EEu52AgUQSo/Wnc6pnFbuvI/AAAAAAAAyLQ/-FMzea0EYtwzNo12N2sfZyQIvh-ILN-jgCLcBGAs/s320/51Onujx66CL._SS500.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Gary for a great interview. I had so many more questions to ask him, so I hope he will come back again. The Phile will be back tomorrow with author David J. Hogan. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Enjoy the Super Bowl, if you watch it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B2cu4XZrFhw/Wnc9PkjzwqI/AAAAAAAAyLc/Ibg_AdVWrCoC-TbqisvVDxqekj0_1NCgwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_994.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="725" data-original-width="530" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B2cu4XZrFhw/Wnc9PkjzwqI/AAAAAAAAyLc/Ibg_AdVWrCoC-TbqisvVDxqekj0_1NCgwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_994.jpeg" width="291" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="post-footer" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"></div><br /><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8756338535286804349" itemprop="description articleBody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; orphans: auto; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; width: 586px; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6104527215605458981" itemprop="description articleBody" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 586px; word-spacing: 0px;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i><div style="clear: both;"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div></div>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-87563385352868043492018-01-29T13:03:00.001-05:002018-01-29T13:03:56.636-05:00Pheaturing Robert LaRoche From The Sighs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5_T7mx38vZQ/Wm894byFTtI/AAAAAAAAyBc/tNH4gjhG8pABvQy6ONUldnWbo5j-Na_wgCLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5_T7mx38vZQ/Wm894byFTtI/AAAAAAAAyBc/tNH4gjhG8pABvQy6ONUldnWbo5j-Na_wgCLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hey</b>, kids, welcome the Phile for a Monday. How are you? Did you watch the Grammys last night? The Grammy are a great way to get to know the bands from you favorite car commercial. I was feeling really old and confused after trying to watch the Grammys.<br /><b>I </b>don't know who Joy Villa, but apparently she is a singer who is becoming more well-known for her political outfits than her singing career. Case and point is the 26-year-old's personalized gown she wore to the Grammys yesterday. Villa's gown and purse sported an anti-abortion message that she hand painted. Arts and crafts goes fashion!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S0p__bMTpeY/Wm8_GaLZa3I/AAAAAAAAyB0/mB_cGuVJfW4VlvPz3Q-DNb_FSzslAVp0gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B10.33.18%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="581" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S0p__bMTpeY/Wm8_GaLZa3I/AAAAAAAAyB0/mB_cGuVJfW4VlvPz3Q-DNb_FSzslAVp0gCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B10.33.18%2BAM.png" width="356" /></a></div><br />On Instagram, Villa shared that the fetus image is her daughter, whom Villa gave up for adoption after giving birth at age 21. Villa also confirmed what you're thinking... the dress is a bridal gown she custom decorated. I had to Google Joy Villa, which I suppose is what she wanted. Villa made headlines at last year's Grammys for wearing the most pro-Trump outfit conceivable, from designer Andre Soriano. If you couldn't tell, Villa is into Trump. Despite her ardent support for Trump, Villa angered the Trump base in December when she accused Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager, of inappropriately touching her at an event. While Villa may have lost some supporters for speaking out against Lewandowski, she's continued full-on with her Trump marketing ploy. The same day she sported the anti-abortion gown she released new music. If you'd like to follow Villa's career, don't waste your time looking for her on best dressed lists.<br /><b>The </b>biggest moment coming out of last night at the Grammys: Hillary Clinton, in a James Corden sketch, reading from Michael Wolff's Trump tell-all, "Fire and Fury." As celebrities like John Legend, Cardi B, and Snoop Dogg read passages from the bonkers behind-the-scenes look at the White House, the sketch saved Clinton for last. "He had a long time fear of being poisoned. One reason why he liked to eat at McDonald's," read Clinton. "No one knew he was coming, and the food was safely premade." And if Corden was hoping Donald Trump would clapback and up the prestige of his hosting gig (like Jimmy Kimmel before him), well, he's already gotten the next best thing. Don Jr. tweeted immediately.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zN-lOzJFs5M/Wm9A12q7GlI/AAAAAAAAyCA/jzF5GIwRTx83IJxtSkmrM6aR46GWOpNcwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B10.41.49%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="495" height="155" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zN-lOzJFs5M/Wm9A12q7GlI/AAAAAAAAyCA/jzF5GIwRTx83IJxtSkmrM6aR46GWOpNcwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B10.41.49%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Wrote Jr, simultaneously hating on Wolff's book... which alleges that the president's eldest son has an infantile relationship with his father... and Clinton. He wasn't the only Trump official to take a strong stand against the comedy bit. Trump's Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, also slammed the "trash," saying she loves the Grammys but doesn't need "the politics thrown in it." Congratulations to the winner of the defense-of-Trump tweet awards... James Corden. Stay tuned to see if he gets the biggest prize of the day. President Trump still hasn't tweeted.<br /><b>It's</b> time to pull out your detective hat, because a very important investigation is underway. Upon first glance, the 2018 "Vanity Fair" Hollywood portfolio cover is yet another glamorous celebrity portrait taken by the prolific Annie Leibovitz.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e45QjrYc3kc/Wm9CxddIYjI/AAAAAAAAyCM/3LvMaFGX66YNz9ZXHvcZc_tkzP7XGHgygCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B10.49.50%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="498" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e45QjrYc3kc/Wm9CxddIYjI/AAAAAAAAyCM/3LvMaFGX66YNz9ZXHvcZc_tkzP7XGHgygCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B10.49.50%2BAM.png" width="338" /></a></div><br />But upon closer inspection, Twitter has noticed something peculiar about Reese Witherspoon's legs. When you truly focus, it appears the <i>Big Little Lies</i> actress has three legs. Is this an illuminati conspiracy?! Has she had three legs all along and we're just NOW noticing?! People also have some feelings about how snug Witherspoon and Oprah appear to be. Naturally, people has been batting around some theories about Witherspoon's third leg. Is it merely an optical illusion caused by her flesh-toned dress?! Perhaps a bad photoshop job?! Maybe, just maybe, this is Witherspoon's long hidden secret. Weird. Could be a Photoshop error, but I'm not sure why they would have to Photoshop her leg into a different position. Most likely, what we see as the third "leg" is just the fabric of her dress that seems to match her skin tone because it's in shadow. To make matters even more bizarre, it also appears that Oprah has three hands. Did a "Vanity Fair" photo editor just execute the perfect prank?! Once she caught wind of the Internet's speculation about her third leg, Witherspoon decided to settle the score once and for all. Yes, she has three legs. And now, she finally feels ready to share her truth with this cold, judgmental world. At the time of writing, Oprah has yet to comment on her third hand. Man, 2018 is already off to a weird start, so Witherspoon's three-legged photoshoot feels completely on brand.<br /><b>Speaking</b> of Oprah... After weeks of excitement and speculation spawned by that transcendent speech she gave at the Golden Globe Awards, an interview with her excellency Oprah Winfrey explicitly states whether or not she will run for president in 2020. And... she isn't. Oprah is on the cover of "InStyle" magazine this month, and was asked point blank whether she's packing up and moving to Washington. "Why would I be president when I could be Oprah?" is not what she said, but it sure sounds like what she thinks. Well that's that. Incidentally, this interview was conducted weeks before her Golden Globes Oprah made it official in her own magazine. The electorate is understanding, and still can't believe there was such huge speculation in the first place. Seriously, people want a president with actual governing experience this time. Breitbart, for their part, is claiming this as a victory, assuming Oprah has a more sinister reason for rejecting the call than simply not wanting to. R.I.P. OPRAH 2020 January 7th, 2018 - January 25th, 2018.<br /><b>One</b> company has truly reached a new low with their "Slavery Gets Shit Done" slogan. Along with the text is a graphic representing the pyramids of Egypt. You know, because a lot of people think the pyramids were built by slaves. (They were not.) Umm? What? How does this exist? And as if the fact that the clothing was created in the first place wasn't bad enough, it was actually being sold by online retail giant, <a href="http://amazon.com/">Amazon.com</a>. Twitter user @Queen__Grace tweeted this picture of a white baby wearing a bib bearing the slogan, but it was apparently also on mugs, bags, and T-shirts, all sold by third-party sellers on Amazon's website.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uBoQEB2Gx2o/Wm9FbzWQ_rI/AAAAAAAAyCY/mJ8Tdgo4kAk4bgqmsFv7ywtizXvQHVFHwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B10.59.59%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="491" height="305" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uBoQEB2Gx2o/Wm9FbzWQ_rI/AAAAAAAAyCY/mJ8Tdgo4kAk4bgqmsFv7ywtizXvQHVFHwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B10.59.59%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Amazon reportedly pulled the clothing after complaints from individuals and anti-slavery groups. In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said, “All Marketplace sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who don’t will be subject to action including potential removal of their account. The products in question are no longer available.” David Westlake, chief executive of International Justice Mission (IJM) U.K., said to the "Post," “Children the same age as those modeling the t-shirts will be forced to work long hours for no pay in desperate conditions where starvation, beatings and sleep deprivation are common." Jakub Sobik of the charity organization Anti-Slavery International (ASI) told Thomson Reuters Foundation, “If it is meant to be funny, it fails miserably.”<br /><b>So</b>, there's a new band I want to get on the Phile...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WoTwXjyXI04/Wm9HI9cyn2I/AAAAAAAAyCk/SdrdIAkNgnAONBASo6-tgSorjjs2JZFMQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="606" height="307" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WoTwXjyXI04/Wm9HI9cyn2I/AAAAAAAAyCk/SdrdIAkNgnAONBASo6-tgSorjjs2JZFMQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_0895.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />I bet they're good. Hahaha. That's so stupid. That's as stupid as...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rTzMnchirm8/Wm9Iyy0xOvI/AAAAAAAAyCw/TYZFGJ8AKiIebniyyAIEkj6HP5gCs_uvACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8bb.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="472" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rTzMnchirm8/Wm9Iyy0xOvI/AAAAAAAAyCw/TYZFGJ8AKiIebniyyAIEkj6HP5gCs_uvACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8bb.jpeg" width="352" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. There's a new <i>Star Wars</i> book out that looks pretty cool...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7qpJYtoiE8w/Wm9KP2qRJJI/AAAAAAAAyC8/n7kDfhI6pvQpaw4ZffleLYk9t_rdp2LHwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="632" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7qpJYtoiE8w/Wm9KP2qRJJI/AAAAAAAAyC8/n7kDfhI6pvQpaw4ZffleLYk9t_rdp2LHwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2708.JPG" width="262" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. That's actually funny. If you are thinking about cheating on your loved one you might wanna think twice after seeing this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EhVfKJTAmwI/Wm9cxuJxuLI/AAAAAAAAyGA/lTVQaVT-KX8yFGB-CfGgDT82uGKcWRoyACLcBGAs/s1600/29-5i0BUM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="889" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EhVfKJTAmwI/Wm9cxuJxuLI/AAAAAAAAyGA/lTVQaVT-KX8yFGB-CfGgDT82uGKcWRoyACLcBGAs/s400/29-5i0BUM.jpg" width="313" /></a></div><br />Ha! So, a few weeks ago there was a Women's March in Washington D.C. and other states when it was the anniversary of Trump being sworn in as president. Some of these women had very clever signs...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TyvN_O2fZN8/Wm9LCpyCkUI/AAAAAAAAyDE/LYh64SweTA8d2red1San7o9iKbZ9RzYCgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8ec.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="421" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TyvN_O2fZN8/Wm9LCpyCkUI/AAAAAAAAyDE/LYh64SweTA8d2red1San7o9iKbZ9RzYCgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8ec.jpeg" width="337" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. So, this is the Phile's 12th anniversary year and I have been showing you some celebrities how they changed since 2006. For example... Taylor Swift...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zCGP4_8KMk0/Wm9LbChKoiI/AAAAAAAAyDI/xmFYkUZ3E9sP6VFdo3aKdfwl6OcOS_G3gCLcBGAs/s1600/shutterstock94750057-ALKMvP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zCGP4_8KMk0/Wm9LbChKoiI/AAAAAAAAyDI/xmFYkUZ3E9sP6VFdo3aKdfwl6OcOS_G3gCLcBGAs/s320/shutterstock94750057-ALKMvP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />In 2006 she was singing about ex-boyfriends. Then in 2018...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B4vbniWQD_w/Wm9LuAgG7oI/AAAAAAAAyDQ/bQrhVCQhup85khgKrNHjZRLUW9m8Ts7cgCLcBGAs/s1600/taylor-swift-PVx6T3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B4vbniWQD_w/Wm9LuAgG7oI/AAAAAAAAyDQ/bQrhVCQhup85khgKrNHjZRLUW9m8Ts7cgCLcBGAs/s320/taylor-swift-PVx6T3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />She's singing about ex-boyfriends. Okay, maybe somethings haven't changed.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eAAJOeK-uRU/Wm9MYzSK9VI/AAAAAAAAyDc/rcfAqUwr2HE5o_2zN17vDyti2SwOdSAZgCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eAAJOeK-uRU/Wm9MYzSK9VI/AAAAAAAAyDc/rcfAqUwr2HE5o_2zN17vDyti2SwOdSAZgCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IsAHv55z2-w/Wm9MfOa9G4I/AAAAAAAAyDg/PDb8jjYE-Fkk3U6dUVDPqh1eFW_BHf6BwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_955.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="550" height="267" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IsAHv55z2-w/Wm9MfOa9G4I/AAAAAAAAyDg/PDb8jjYE-Fkk3U6dUVDPqh1eFW_BHf6BwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_955.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, so, yesterday friend of the Phile Laird was here and said he didn't like the movie <i>Dunkirk</i>. Well, that got me thinking... what movie does he like. So, I invited him back here to tell us. He's a singer, patriot, renaissance man. You know what time it is.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j962u_RshLE/Wm9NP_TqLeI/AAAAAAAAyDo/giZUY4Ctuvo4P88ELMT8PLSKuP_VhNR3wCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8ff.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1566" data-original-width="1400" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j962u_RshLE/Wm9NP_TqLeI/AAAAAAAAyDo/giZUY4Ctuvo4P88ELMT8PLSKuP_VhNR3wCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8ff.jpeg" width="357" /></a></div><br />Good morning, humans. This movie is so thought provoking...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y0mFnzHjU7E/Wm9O9Zsn17I/AAAAAAAAyD0/NySmI_VNG4krk_ytWpCeMX6ULx-WDgYtgCLcBGAs/s1600/27332449_10216385014437615_7923149361567448095_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="892" data-original-width="650" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y0mFnzHjU7E/Wm9O9Zsn17I/AAAAAAAAyD0/NySmI_VNG4krk_ytWpCeMX6ULx-WDgYtgCLcBGAs/s320/27332449_10216385014437615_7923149361567448095_n.jpg" width="233" /></a></div><br />Not only do I highly recommend it, I think it should be required viewing for everyone over the age of 12. I won’t spoil the plot by describing anything further. Let’s just say... it’s one of those movies that’ll have you saying... “Holy shit!” many, many times. I give it five stars.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-icdB2W8GhPw/Wm9RX9b3_WI/AAAAAAAAyEA/GsAeEfGoro0tni1vpyqKKAJN57S7MM4NQCLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="400" height="187" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-icdB2W8GhPw/Wm9RX9b3_WI/AAAAAAAAyEA/GsAeEfGoro0tni1vpyqKKAJN57S7MM4NQCLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xq4FyKBwUgc/Wm9Re-ba6uI/AAAAAAAAyEE/a05fqcQja5Uq-IGemNikyAIJgjiBcnrngCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_945.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xq4FyKBwUgc/Wm9Re-ba6uI/AAAAAAAAyEE/a05fqcQja5Uq-IGemNikyAIJgjiBcnrngCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_945.jpeg" width="326" /></a></div><br />Okay, so, you know I live in Florida, right? Well, there's some stuff that happens in Florida that happens nowhere else in the universe. Well, this story might...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W9zWaspcHy0/Wm9RxoS1krI/AAAAAAAAyEI/NeECY-onm74uNqADIlw8DfVH9rxI-RJjgCLcBGAs/s1600/americas-wang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="1000" height="282" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W9zWaspcHy0/Wm9RxoS1krI/AAAAAAAAyEI/NeECY-onm74uNqADIlw8DfVH9rxI-RJjgCLcBGAs/s400/americas-wang.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Jen Selter is an Instagram influencer who's gained roughly 11.7 million followers thanks to her curvaceous rear. While she's no Kardashian, Selter has created a well-known brand.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IWA77mJOZh0/Wm9R9h47PgI/AAAAAAAAyEQ/yZMJmRcWvOYL6EN5zSYkQA78eduaNJW7QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B11.46.36%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="581" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IWA77mJOZh0/Wm9R9h47PgI/AAAAAAAAyEQ/yZMJmRcWvOYL6EN5zSYkQA78eduaNJW7QCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B11.46.36%2BAM.png" width="298" /></a></div><br />Thus, her getting into it with an airline equates to bonafide gossip. As gleaned from Selter's social media, Selter was attempting to fly from Miami to New York on American Airlines. Her plane was stuck on the runway for over two hours, creating a heated environment. It seems that some people were out of their seats and in the bathroom, which led Selter to believe she was free to grab a jacket from the overhead bin. Apparently this was a no-no and a flight attendant told ​​​​Selter as much. When asked if she wanted to leave the plan, Selter assented, only to later tell the pilot she was being sarcastic. The video shows other passengers getting mad for Selter, who remains calm when talking to the pilot. The only thing agreed upon is that nobody wants to be there. Selter posted follow-up videos of five cops coming onto the flight to remove her and her sister. "People kept coming up to me, and then all of a sudden five male officers come at me and it was really frightening," Selter told ABC News. Selter's sister talked to another passenger who got off the plan voluntarily following the incident. American Airlines released a statement in response to the hooplah. "Ms. Selter was asked to leave the aircraft after a disagreement occurred Saturday night at Miami International Airport (MIA). American offered her hotel accommodations and transportation, which she declined." The statement noted that Selter "flew on American Sunday morning back to New York (LGA)." Seems like Selter and American made up. That's great... I wanna see another pic of her.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HQ89ph_ocA4/Wm9SuElT_KI/AAAAAAAAyEg/l9tHPdPHE083LmqM-3GqOW46LHIo_7fjgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B11.58.05%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="594" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HQ89ph_ocA4/Wm9SuElT_KI/AAAAAAAAyEg/l9tHPdPHE083LmqM-3GqOW46LHIo_7fjgCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B11.58.05%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Okay... one more...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1IE2Sl9lLF8/Wm9TGe3ezVI/AAAAAAAAyEk/SsNk0HdQoJ0u5DqGV6AscGpQUXM88gIVwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B11.59.43%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="598" height="397" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1IE2Sl9lLF8/Wm9TGe3ezVI/AAAAAAAAyEk/SsNk0HdQoJ0u5DqGV6AscGpQUXM88gIVwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B11.59.43%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Okay... I'm good for now...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NfIsAo6VyLg/Wm9TNToqjhI/AAAAAAAAyEs/N1FIMWFG-xkIvB2k0Y4KUhBl9T6Bs_IwACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="583" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NfIsAo6VyLg/Wm9TNToqjhI/AAAAAAAAyEs/N1FIMWFG-xkIvB2k0Y4KUhBl9T6Bs_IwACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div><br />During a CNN interview on Saturday night, rapper Jay Z called Trump a "superbug," noting that his toxic rise has empowered racist attitudes that were already embedded in America's DNA. "You don’t take the trash out. You keep spraying whatever over it to make it acceptable. As those things grow, you create a superbug. Then now we have Donald Trump, the superbug," Jay Z said, lamenting America's inability to confront racism head-on. In true Trump fashion, the president took to Twitter yesterday morning to come for Jay Z. His defense?! That his presidency has allegedly raised the black employment rate.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uY2nvGi0nvY/Wm9URcYZ1JI/AAAAAAAAyE8/VsIGP_0OOnM1ppzsH2RwIz4EuWmJ-qs8gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B12.04.33%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="497" height="160" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uY2nvGi0nvY/Wm9URcYZ1JI/AAAAAAAAyE8/VsIGP_0OOnM1ppzsH2RwIz4EuWmJ-qs8gCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-29%2Bat%2B12.04.33%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Presumably, Trump didn't actually watch Jay Z's interview. Since that very point was brought up in discussion. Several people pointed out that it was actually Obama's presidency that brought about these changes. And even so, there's a long way to go. Some people are relishing the concept of beef between Jay Z and Trump. While their lifestyles, career tracks, and political perspectives are vastly different, both of them technically do have a lot of experience with beefing. During his appearance on "The Van Jones Show," Jay Z also addressed Trump's "shithole countries" comment noting how dehumanizing it was to people in Africa, Haiti, and El Salvador. And in an interview that aired last night with Piers Morgan, Donald Trump doesn't identify as a feminist, a fact that rippled throughout the Internet to receive a collective "duh." "No, I wouldn't say I'm a feminist. I mean, I think that would be, maybe, going too far. I’m for women, I'm for men, I’m for everyone,” Trump said in the interview. It's hardly news that the man accused by 22 women of sexual misconduct doesn't identify as a feminist. If you look at his lifestyle, and write down pretty much any of Trump's sexist quotes about women you can parse that he doesn't hold a deep respect for the ladies. The "revelation" rendered large portions of Twitter unable to pry their eyeballs from the backs of their heads. To be fair, it would demonstrate a much bigger cognitive dissonance on Trump's part if he <i>did</i> identify as a feminist. We're going to need more eyeballs to roll after this piece of breaking news.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9JOrJjP7D9M/Wm9Vcb3WIKI/AAAAAAAAyFI/LcmoPQs2tSAK5NajU5X6ghdZkIoFi5_2QCLcBGAs/s1600/yoursign-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9JOrJjP7D9M/Wm9Vcb3WIKI/AAAAAAAAyFI/LcmoPQs2tSAK5NajU5X6ghdZkIoFi5_2QCLcBGAs/s400/yoursign-41.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />The 74th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b1OuuKCtMR8/Wm9V7M4HFWI/AAAAAAAAyFQ/zPEyWrmmQ6g-E3MmZeQ366OIB8DhEBeHwCLcBGAs/s1600/00129007_1024x1024.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b1OuuKCtMR8/Wm9V7M4HFWI/AAAAAAAAyFQ/zPEyWrmmQ6g-E3MmZeQ366OIB8DhEBeHwCLcBGAs/s320/00129007_1024x1024.jpeg" width="212" /></a></div><br />David will be the guest on the Phile a week from today. And now for just the...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LKFMl5CgMcI/Wm9WK30vaBI/AAAAAAAAyFU/1jqhNgR0vc0D5PR_wzT165Q4VDsCtBRVgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LKFMl5CgMcI/Wm9WK30vaBI/AAAAAAAAyFU/1jqhNgR0vc0D5PR_wzT165Q4VDsCtBRVgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Phact 1.</b> The Oakland Buddha, placed by a resident on a street corner to prevent illegal dumping, the statue has now become a shrine for the local Vietnamese population who leave offerings and have even built a shelter for the Buddha. Crime in the area dropped 82%.<br /><br /><b>Phact 2.</b> As a child, Michael Jackson’s father would torment him about his appearance, calling him fat-nose. Michael went on to have four rhinoplasties and fussed over how his body and face looked for the rest of his life.<br /><br /><b>Phact 3.</b> Sir Ian McKellen broke down on the set of <i>The Hobbit</i>, announcing “This is not why I became an actor," due to filming the entire movie along with the dwarves edited in afterward.<br /><br /><b>Phact 4.</b> Carrie Fisher delivered a cow tongue inside a Tiffany box to a predatory producer who had assaulted her friend. She said, “The next delivery will be something of yours in a much smaller box!”<br /><br /><b>Phact 5. </b>A 17-year-old girl who hired two teens to murder her parents appealed her convictions on the grounds of being a minor interviewed by police without parental consent.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D8tLIe0G8bk/Wm9Y5UI83hI/AAAAAAAAyFk/Bu3T7XVw_JAiCtNtn2DIdrMFk-T3FbwXQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_976.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="170" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D8tLIe0G8bk/Wm9Y5UI83hI/AAAAAAAAyFk/Bu3T7XVw_JAiCtNtn2DIdrMFk-T3FbwXQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_976.jpeg" width="314" /></a></div><br />Today's pheatured guest is the lead singer and founder for the Massachusetts rock band The Sighs who had a little bit of success in the 90s. Their new album "Wait on Another Day" is available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and more. Please welcome to the Phile... Robert LaRoche.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kqfeymy3mdc/Wm9aJR3gRlI/AAAAAAAAyFw/YifHuYWE3f8LG3xSINgL7lZrmWsU5ybsQCLcBGAs/s1600/10584014_330708543761044_276409842116708916_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="621" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kqfeymy3mdc/Wm9aJR3gRlI/AAAAAAAAyFw/YifHuYWE3f8LG3xSINgL7lZrmWsU5ybsQCLcBGAs/s400/10584014_330708543761044_276409842116708916_n.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hey, Robert, welcome to the Phile, man. How are you doing?<br /><br /><b>Robert:</b> I'm doing good, Jason.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Great. So, should I call you Bobby or Robert? I saw you mentioned as Bobby in a few places on-line.<br /><br /><b>Robert:</b> Well, my name is Robert, but folks who have known me for awhile, even my own family call me Bobby. Sometime after The Sighs when I do my side project which I'm still doing to this day I started using Robert. I'm comfortable with either but if I had a preference I'd prefer Robert. I'm 54-years-old, so Robert sounds a little better than Bobby. Haha.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Good deal. I called you Robert at the top of this entry. So, when did The Sighs become a band, Robert, and was it a struggle when you guys first started?<br /><br /><b>Robert:</b> It wasn't a struggle because it was fun. The playing was fun and we actually got a lot of gigs. I think the first one was in '81, and we were playing clubs in '82. I was pretty young, about 19 and I was the oldest in the band. The drummer who is now the bass player, Tommy Pluta, a little known fact, he started out playing drums and was a damn good drummer. He was only 18-years-old, and he would play, and get a belly full of beer and had to go to high school with a hangover the next day. We were all working part time and I am sure we were still living at home still. It was absolutely fun as we weren't that focused at that point on original material. We had some original songs but we were playing versions of Dion and the Belmonts, late 50s to early 60s songs and of course as time went by we started to write more and more. Primarily we started as a fun party and people knew the songs. That didn't last long, as about two years into it it was half and half... half originals and half covers. It was ten years playing clubs and colleges before we got signed by a Virgin subsidiary.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> The whole time were you thinking you guys wanted a record contract, or were you just happy playing gigs?<br /><br /><b>Robert: </b>We were true believers and still are and I still am.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Did you go to college or anything in the meantime? Surely you didn't just play shows and nothing else...<br /><br /><b>Robert: </b>There wasn't a back up plan and we took it as far as we could. Even when Charisma, the label went kaput we continued on and did a one off with a good independent label which was called Big Deal Records.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>When did your first record come out, and what was it called?<br /><br /><b>Robert:</b> "She Is Not the Girl I Used to Know," which was released on Relief Records which was in late summer '82. We were very clever... Sighs on Relief. I remember doing mailings to all these distributors. I had help of course, Jason. I had all these people in the music scene in Holyoke and North Hampton. This was a western Mass thing. It wasn't a Boston thing. Boston was only a hundred miles to the east but this was kinda regional thing. I don't have a copy of that single, I haven't heard it in a long time. Haha.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What genre would you say your music was in 1992 when the first album came out? Rock? Grunge? Pop?<br /><br /><b>Robert:</b> I wouldn't say grunge. If you listen to the Charisma release we were pretty straight pop rock and roll. I don't really hear any grunge on that. The second record was different. That was the one on Big Deal. It had I would say had a more powerful influence from let's say the post-Nirvana period. When "Nevermind" came out that decimated the plimsols, power pop, Raspberies influence that we were in to... that kinda got pushed aside as you know.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, how did you guys originally get signed? I bet you celebrated when that happened?<br /><br /><b>Robert: </b>Well, we partied a lot in those days so I can't give you too much information, but could only say we were excessive in our celebrating. That would be the most diplomatic way to put it. I've been sober now for quite some years and I don't regret the past but I don't need to relive it. Haha. We were young and had a hell of a lot of fun.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Gotcha. So, was it one of those things were you went and signed a big contract and they threw a large bucket of money at you?<br /><br /><b>Robert:</b> I would say yes to that. That was still happening in the early 90s. New York City wasn't that far from where we lived, it was just a three hour drive. We started playing at a place called The China Club in New York City. At that time there was a string of them in L.A., Chicago, New York, and a couple of other big towns. It was on the upper west side of Manhattan on 75th and Broadway. It was actually located in the basement of the Beacon Theater. It was one of those velvet rope clubs and they would have live from about 9 til 12, and they would have a feature act. It was not like a CBGB hardcore lower east side with people with torn up jeans and Converse... it had a lot of music fans, and a lot of models, a lot of celebrities. The Stones were there, Rod Stewart, Hulk Hogan... I remember being completely as my dad would say "half my shoes on," very intoxicating, hanging off Hulk Hogan's biceps. We had a lot of stories like that during that time period. But we started playing this China Club and we started to get popular. What really turned it around, we started packing the place and that's when record companies started to come around. I remember being at CBGB and we did a good set. CBGB was a great place as it sounded good in there. It was a dirty place with dog shit all over the floor, it was a real dump but it had a good sound system and a good stage. It was at CBGB when the president of Virgin Records, Phil Quartararo, came out and solidified the deal and said, "Welcome aboard, guys." We had leaned towards going with Virgin and that is what we did. There was a couple of other offers too that we had to think about.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>That's a crazy story about Hulk Hogan, Robert, but I might be able to beat that. In the early 90s when I was living at home with my parents I came home from work and saw Hulk Hogan was sitting on the couch in our living room, with my dad sitting in a chair. My mum was in the kitchen making dinner, and was getting impatient that Hulk wouldn't leave. Apparently he had been there for hours and just wouldn't leave. At that time he was making the "Thunder in Paradise" show at Disney World and wanted my dad to write and perform the theme for that show. My dad was Lonesome Dave from Foghat, and was home from touring the time. Anyway, Hulk said, "Hi, brother," and I ended up getting an autograph for somebody at work. A half hour later Hulk left to my parents relief. It was crazy. Anyway, where are you from, Robert?<br /><br /><b>Robert:</b> From western Massachusetts. I was living in New Hampton, Massachusetts which is a little college town. We all loved one or two towns from each other but we had a band house like Big Pink. We wrote there, we recorded there, we had a nice studio seer up for demos. We made pretty good demos and funny about that, we were gonna release that as a CD. Our great guitarist, Matt Cullen, was moving his studio into his basement and he found this box of tapes. We started to remix them and thought, "How many songs are there?" There were like twenty songs and we said let's release this and we'll call it "The Basement Tapes" as it was recorded in the basement. This is why things are were they are now with the new release.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay, so, how did you and the other guys get back together for this album again?<br /><br /><b>Robert:</b> Well, we have always been friends all these years, even though we might not talk for about 8 months. When I went home to visit my parents who are still living in western Massachusetts we would get together and play poker. And then we rekindled our own curiosity and interest in all these songs and wondered why they weren't on the record. We then realized that we didn't pick the songs that were going on the record. The label chose that. At the time we were quite happy, we were in the batters box and thought we'll do it. The funny thing is there were so many songs left over that is what the new record "Wait Another Day" is now.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Are all the songs on the new album older songs or any newly written songs?<br /><br /><b>Robert: </b>All written back then, but with new recordings. There are three songs on it that were written in 1987... 31 years ago. The other ones were written when we were with the label in '91, or '92. None of the songs are brand new songs... that I'm aware of. I'm pretty sure that they are all from that time period.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> When you were originally signed were you working a day job at all?<br /><br /><b>Robert: </b>I was working for my family. They were so, so supportive and they knew myself and the other band members had been chasing this for years. When the time came and the opportunity was presented to us we were in good shape musically. We were ready to be signed. I didn't have to give a resignation because I worked for my family. We signed in June '91 and if I'm not mistaken it was only ten weeks later we were in Los Angeles doing preproduction.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>The first album, "What Goes On," was produced by Ed Stasium. What was that like? He's a pretty big producer, right?<br /><br /><b>Robert:</b> Yeah. He heard the demos, and gave the label a price... a high price. At the time we didn't realize everything was in advanced. The labels like a bank, whatever costs the x amount of dollars for so and so, in this case Ed to produce the record we weren't gonna see any money til that money's paid back. That's just the business and it's nothing out of the ordinary. Years later we looked back and thought maybe we could've made a little less expensive record. We didn't and made a very, very expensive record. We decided to record it in Los Angeles... you're talking about flights and a place to live for 3 months. The irony is we knocked this new record out in five days. Expect for the lead guitar parts that Matt did in his home studio in Iowa. He's a full time dad and a husband so he did his stuff in his home studio. At the time it was a great opportunity, where did the basic tracks, Jason, was the room where they did "We Are the World." We were in studio A in A&amp;M. Was it necessary? I don't know. In retrospect am I glad I got to experience it? Yes.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Did you run into any of your idols or cool people at that time?<br /><br /><b>Robert: </b>Yeah, a lot of heavy cats. U2 was mixing "One," but I did not get to meet them. Tommy Pluta did in the parking lot of A&amp;M. It was the Charlie Chaplin soundstage that became the Herb Albert took over. I couldn't believe it was still there. That facility is no longer a recording studio now but it was ion '91 and U2 was there. Patti Smythe was across the hall, Maria McKee was also recording there. The legendary drummer Jim Keltner, who is an idol for us, who played with John Lennon, the Traveling Wilbury's was playing drums for the Maria McKee sessions so we actually got to go into the control room and got to see Jim Keltner cut a drum track and that was really interesting. We had to sit quietly in the back and Jimmy Iovine was the producer and he didn't let guests in but he was a friend of Ed's and let us watch. Sheryl Crow was in there, I remember I hung out with her one afternoon. They had a lounge with a bunch of fish tanks in there which they called The Fish Lounge I think, and this was before her first album "Tuesday Night Music Club," and she was real nice. There was other folks in there too, there was a guy from Bad English... so many people.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, you're in L.A., recording your first album, and got paid a lot of money. How did you handle it? What did you do?<br /><b><br /></b><b>Robert:</b> To give you the idea how the tone was set the thing was we were young and we could party and still be productive. I wouldn't be able to do that now, but in those days we were able to do that. The night before we arrived at the studio they had a 40th birthday party for Sting. Sting had played the Hollywood Bowl the night before and they had a birthday party for him at the Charlie Chaplin soundstage. When we met the staff of A&amp;M they said, "Hey, Sting was here last night and they left a couple of cases of Newcastle from England. Do you guys like Newcastle beer?" We were like sure. So, we started the session by cracking the case of Newcastle brown ale. The question is why wouldn't I? We partied a lot but in fairness we worked hard. That was part of our job... partying... recording, partying some more, recording some more.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I don't remember you guys or when your first album came out. How come I didn't hear about you guys? Were you guys on the radio?<br /><br /><b>Robert: </b>Well, the radio part happened in a nice way. The single "Think About Soul" was played on the radio and in those days it wax called modern rock radio. It did get national airplay but wasn't in the top 10 of the rock charts, but it was in the top 40. I remember going to perform in Chicago at the Metro, and we played with the band The Men. There were two guys and two girls in the band. As we pulled into Chicago for our first time there "Think About Soul" was on the radio so that was a real rush. There were other places like that. Portland, Oregon was great, Reno, Nevada was great. We could tell what towns the song was being played on the radio, that was the magic of radio back then. This would've been August or September in '92, when we were touring. Then what wound up happening was Virgin Records was sold and EMI bought out Virgin. That's the short version, they bought Virgin, and they switched distributors. We went on another tour with the Spin Doctors and Dada on an MTV Rock the Vote tour. This was when George Bush senior was going against Clinton. The problem was when the label was sold we would pull onto a town like Lawrence, Kansas we couldn't find the record. We got to Lincoln, Nebraska, and we couldn't find the record there. We were not unique and this was not a unique situation. I learnt that as the years went by and to be honest with you, I leaned to make peace with it. The real way I made peace with it is knowing it happens all the time in the music business. We managed to hang on longer than most. We made it into the following year where we were recording demos and still doing a lot of gigs. It's interesting, we were never officially dropped like most of the other acts were because we were signed by the president of Virgin who encouraged us and said let the dust settle, that it might take awhile. They wanted us to record a few new songs, and rerelease other songs but we didn't want to do that. We thought we'd sign to another label, but that's hard to do. That's like being struck by lightning twice. Who knows if we had stuck around and rode put the merger, who knows what would of happened.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, with the second album "Different," did you feel the same way, or was to different?<br /><br /><b>Robert:</b> I think we knew that the golden opportunity... golden as in the financial backing, was not gonna come back. We were a good band, we enjoyed playing together. Like any band there might have been some personality differences but we did love each other and we are still friends today. We were very reluctant to sort of let it go, but we did after that record was released. I think we felt that we took it as far as we could. It had been fifteen years I guess, which is a long run.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, what happened when the band broke up?<br /><br /><b>Robert: </b>With me personally I ended up moving to New York City, which we had been going to for some time. I really liked the city, I liked the energy, I like it you can fall flat on your face and nobody cares. If you failed, it didn't matter, nobody was impressed by it. To get noticed there you have to really work hard and so what I did I stepped out the lead singer role and I met a girl who I'm still working with to this day, Patricia Vonne, in Austin who has a great website you should check out. We tour Europe all the time still... I'm still on the road six months of the year. I'm not the lead singer, I'm the lead guitarist, but I get to write a lot. We co-write on a lot of the songs. Then two years ago I released my first solo CD called "Patient Man."<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, where do you live now, Robert?<br /><br /><b>Robert: </b>Austin... the fastest growing city in America. I've been here about 18 years, and when I got here in '01 it was still affordable. The sun is out 365 days a year and it's a music town.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> It's on my bucket list to go to Austin and do this blog from there. Okay, so, do you have any regrets or any fantastic memories of your career?<br /><br /><b>Robert: </b>I guess recording at studio A at A&amp;M... that whole experience was surreal. Ed Stasium is amazing producer and did a fantastic job. That would be the burning bush moment for me that whole three month period. There were some live shows that were great, and oddly enough the band is still playing very well live now because we all calmed way down. Of course we are advanced in years. The bottom line it's still fun and that's why it's worth doing. Equally important it's fun to play together.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Robert, thanks so much for being on the Phile. Now I want to check you guys out. Mention your websites and if the Sighs come to Orlando I'll check you guys out.<br /><br /><b>Robert: </b>Thanks. You can check out <a href="http://thesighsmusic.com/">thesighsmusic.com</a> and <a href="http://robertlarochemusic.com/">robertlarochemusic.com</a>. Thanks, Jason.<br />Be good.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1FolzhlDQHw/Wm9gMxcEaVI/AAAAAAAAyGM/hpbOhQwn2-87ikZKprRB6yg6xxJ17ImuACLcBGAs/s1600/21078428_10155767424926189_5875791104080135877_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="750" height="302" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1FolzhlDQHw/Wm9gMxcEaVI/AAAAAAAAyGM/hpbOhQwn2-87ikZKprRB6yg6xxJ17ImuACLcBGAs/s320/21078428_10155767424926189_5875791104080135877_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to my guests Laird Jim and of course Robert LaRoche. By the way, that's a really good album. The Phile will be back next Sunday with Gary Numan. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2XBo4GGA-zM/Wm9h3VPwVzI/AAAAAAAAyGY/kRQikKbeuyQKkCERWOCHUinfjL4sHXnWQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_97a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="462" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2XBo4GGA-zM/Wm9h3VPwVzI/AAAAAAAAyGY/kRQikKbeuyQKkCERWOCHUinfjL4sHXnWQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_97a.jpeg" width="265" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="post-footer" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"></div><br /><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6104527215605458981" itemprop="description articleBody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; orphans: auto; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; width: 586px; word-spacing: 0px;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i><div style="clear: both;"></div></div>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-87265692898974575772018-01-28T11:12:00.000-05:002018-01-28T11:12:11.168-05:00Pheaturing Wesley Schultz And Jeremiah Fraites From The Lumineers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SgooHaSJrn0/Wm3ZbS1QTGI/AAAAAAAAx8k/czd0xgZXQDEE5wqrPfja6rNbT9eNQrwZQCLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SgooHaSJrn0/Wm3ZbS1QTGI/AAAAAAAAx8k/czd0xgZXQDEE5wqrPfja6rNbT9eNQrwZQCLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Ho</b> hey, welcome to the Phile for a Sunday. How are you? Let's start off with a nice story, shall we? The often deadly affects of volcanoes are not pretty for nearby residents. However, the weeks long eruption from Mount Mayan in the Philippines served as a stunning backdrop for a local couple's wedding photos. While some make lemonade out of lemons, Maria Hussa Maica Nicerio and her husband Arlo Gerald de la Cruz make fire wedding photos out of ashes. The couple posed at the restaurant Red Labuyo in the province of Albay to profess their love and capture the gorgeous and formidable wedding photos.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y9so2LSa39w/Wm3aCpIcBKI/AAAAAAAAx8s/O0p3xNsfEqsTKc7qz69CaOFqiG5Y5sGGwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-28%2Bat%2B9.10.00%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="243" data-original-width="492" height="197" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y9so2LSa39w/Wm3aCpIcBKI/AAAAAAAAx8s/O0p3xNsfEqsTKc7qz69CaOFqiG5Y5sGGwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-28%2Bat%2B9.10.00%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />These deserve to be framed in gold. Mount Mayan is currently the most active volcano in the Philippines, and has erupted 50 times in the past 500 years. Hopefully, the volcanoes' persistence will serve as a positive omen for this couple's marriage. Except, without the whole "killing people and melting nearby villages" vibe.<br /><b>Are</b> you a busy, cool, attractive person with lots of people on your texting rotation?! Well, then you're probably suffering from the newest health issue succinctly referred to as "text neck." According to "The New York Times," perpetually craning our heads to check how many people "liked" our killer Instagram photos isn't just reflective of looming psychological emptiness, but it also bodes badly for our physical health. This feels like a personal attack on every cool person alive. At resting, the human head only weighs between 10 and 12 pounds on average (unless you have a real honker). However, when we bend our necks to text our scores of devoted fans, gravity's pull puts roughly 60 pounds of pressure on our neck. While the phrase "text neck" sounds like an insult a teen on the subway would make up, it was first coined in a 2017 study published in "The Spine Journal." According to The National Center for Biotechnology Information, our habitual gorgeous social media slouch negatively affects our mood, memory abilities, depression symptoms, and of course, the quality of our spinal health. Of course, most of us don't have the viable option (or desire) to throw out our smartphones, strap on a backpack and pull a Christopher McCandless <i>Into The Wild</i> stunt. Even if we had that option, it should be noted that bears exist. Bears deserve our respect and WILL eat us. Do not believe Paddington's adorable propaganda. However, daily small changes will help you stave yourself from becoming the Hunchback of Notre Dame of text neck sufferers. All you've got to do is sit with a straightened back, remember to keep your shoulders back, and keep your chin up. Beyond practicing better posture, a more obvious way to stave off text neck is by engaging in less screen time. A more realistic habit is to more of your social media time to a computer rather than a phone, that way you can sit ergonomically. Just remember, if you're dealing with "text neck," it's only because you're an incredibly cool and popular person. I support your "text neck" treatment journey however it looks, so long as you still read the Phile.<br /><b>Good</b> news for everyone who wants to see Madonna’s right nipple! Madonna so clearly wants attention that it would be rude of me not to alert you to the existence of her semi-visible nipple on Instagram. Behold, it is Madge, topless, celebrating the purchase of a brand new $4000 Louis Vuitton purse, with her areola barely concealed. Congrats!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EvwIVxM_zSg/Wm3c6DhNGSI/AAAAAAAAx88/0IVyYY1nWJclCJ6P7sbRSfZjK35JmcW2wCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-28%2Bat%2B9.23.13%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="585" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EvwIVxM_zSg/Wm3c6DhNGSI/AAAAAAAAx88/0IVyYY1nWJclCJ6P7sbRSfZjK35JmcW2wCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-28%2Bat%2B9.23.13%2BAM.png" width="317" /></a></div><br />Madonna's new Mona Lisa purse is certainly worth drooling over, and so is this picture, which to be honest, I first thought was Miley Cyrus using the aging filter on FaceApp. She says, "still drooling over a handbag," because she posted a photo from what appears to be the same selfie photoshoot back in November. That's right, people: THIS IS A LATERGRAM, BUT SHE DIDN'T LABEL IT AS SUCH! The iconic artist is known to express herself. She even sang a song about it! &nbsp;Madonna does have a history of fascinating, less-than-flattering selfies on the 'gram. She even makes her life a musical. Madonna will always be in vogue.<br /><b>A</b> Human Resources manager... you know, the person you're supposed to go to if someone in your office did something racist... got fired for doing something racist. Emily Huynh, an 18-year-old in Seattle, shared a disrespectful, degrading email her dad got from a prospective employer. Bruce Peterson, the now-former HR manager/Hiring manager for Dash Delivery LLC, responded in an email to Mr. Huynh...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7_X0r28VUDs/Wm3dt5FPcJI/AAAAAAAAx9M/EGyoDevsx0kbaSUXR7YtW2ReIUXcX9UpwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-28%2Bat%2B9.26.46%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="496" height="331" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7_X0r28VUDs/Wm3dt5FPcJI/AAAAAAAAx9M/EGyoDevsx0kbaSUXR7YtW2ReIUXcX9UpwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-28%2Bat%2B9.26.46%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Jeez. Emily tweeted that a professional (nay, a person) shouldn't talk to another person in such a manner. Emily's father, Minh Huynh, immigrated to America in 1995 and owned a restaurant before working as an overnight truck driver for 13 years. According to Next Shark, Mr. Huynh was laid off after being unable to get a certain license on time. For the past two years, he's been working day and night to try and find work, using Google Translate when he needs to. Emily also shared her father's reaction. Emily's tweet went viral and people with immigrant parents shared how they can relate. The Huynhs' story was shared on the website Next Shark, and Mr. Huynh was overwhelmed by the amount of support he's received. Finally, the Internet is good for once! The story has a happy ending... &nbsp;Peterson was fired for his shittiness. Emily also shared an update from her dad, who's grateful for the support but working hard to move on with daily English lessons. And the family got an apology from Peterson himself. Take a lesson from Mr. Huynh... learn from your mistakes and your ignorance. Emily told BuzzFeed that since the tweet went viral, her dad has received numerous job offers. She also said that her dad wants to thank the Internet for their support, and that she was grateful to "to shine a light to this serious problem of workplace discrimination." <br /><b>Another</b> Trump book, "Media Madness" by Fox News host Howard Kurtz, is doing its best to fill the headline void left by Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury." An excerpt of the new book, coming out tomorrow, reveals Sean Spicer's reaction to a December 2016 tweet that went viral for, as we say in the business, "the wrong reasons." Remember this one? <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-602G7G9xoBQ/Wm3fqi1NXvI/AAAAAAAAx9Y/t4k-DXz1_d4ha146BlzLOvASYWjwJ6gzACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-28%2Bat%2B9.34.37%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="568" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-602G7G9xoBQ/Wm3fqi1NXvI/AAAAAAAAx9Y/t4k-DXz1_d4ha146BlzLOvASYWjwJ6gzACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-28%2Bat%2B9.34.37%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Then-Politico reporter Julie Ioffe, linking to an article that reported Ivanka Trump would "get [a White House] office in [the] same space" usually reserved for the first lady. Politico quickly rebuked their reporter, who was already planning a move to "The Atlantic." Iofffe also apologized to the Internet and deleted the tweet. It looks like none of that was enough for former White House Director of Communications Sean Spicer, who at some point called "Atlantic" editor Jeffrey Goldberg and demanded her firing. Goldberg defended the reporter, asking Spicer: "Haven't you said some stupid shit in your life?" If you let the light hit it in just the right way, Spicer's comeback is actually hilarious in a self-deprecating, trying-to-repress-the-media sort of way... "I say stupid shit every day. I have never suggested anyone, much less a president, is fucking his daughter." Sean Spicer, whose greatest hits would include adamantly inflating crowd sizes at Trump's inauguration and perhaps mistaking Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" for a collection of Christmas carols, might actually be poking fun at himself there. Although maybe that's not surprising, since he did that again at the Emmys, (much to the audience's horror): According to the excerpt of the Kurtz book obtained by Page Six, the Spicer phone call all but "guaranteed Ioffe's employment... [Goldberg] couldn't let an... administration tell him whom to hire or fire." Well, suppose there's no better time for this pic...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CzHp0n3s1RY/Wm3gO1qwpQI/AAAAAAAAx9g/tQcx6Jab_C4Su1Y_ubkMH1_BNktIv8tFwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-28%2Bat%2B9.37.23%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="477" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CzHp0n3s1RY/Wm3gO1qwpQI/AAAAAAAAx9g/tQcx6Jab_C4Su1Y_ubkMH1_BNktIv8tFwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-28%2Bat%2B9.37.23%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Here's to more Spicer anecdotes come January 29th.<br /><b>It's </b>Sunday, people, and instead of doing this blog I should be listening to this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BngL2P7dsw4/Wm3g-iFwnwI/AAAAAAAAx9s/rn-yrVM5ZsErXTavOd3HkWoqIO9aRm7WwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_957.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="595" height="376" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BngL2P7dsw4/Wm3g-iFwnwI/AAAAAAAAx9s/rn-yrVM5ZsErXTavOd3HkWoqIO9aRm7WwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_957.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Ummm...never mind. If I had a TARDIS I would go to Mars...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AH-J5NBXbMA/Wm3h9dY-TKI/AAAAAAAAx94/VZ170xhRwhArI12DBPqGVHvXJjCkuP9LgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_952.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="701" height="216" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AH-J5NBXbMA/Wm3h9dY-TKI/AAAAAAAAx94/VZ170xhRwhArI12DBPqGVHvXJjCkuP9LgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_952.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />That's a photo of the sun from Mars by the way. Kinda cool, right? Hey, so, I Googled "Lady &amp; the Trump" again on purpose to see what other pic I could find. I found this one...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8nN1uiuyh4A/Wm3iwV1khUI/AAAAAAAAx-A/DdeCw5CLT0YKhSlxcR_qujvdTQnuhjmhgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_95b.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="283" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8nN1uiuyh4A/Wm3iwV1khUI/AAAAAAAAx-A/DdeCw5CLT0YKhSlxcR_qujvdTQnuhjmhgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_95b.jpeg" width="292" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. Some people have suck bad luck... but I don't think it could be any worse than if this happened...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tShomacR9FI/Wm3jIsqcjSI/AAAAAAAAx-E/TAa4mY56ooAhF44jHFQ9sbRWdcYg5SCxQCLcBGAs/s1600/Mama_011ab7_6467585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="858" data-original-width="1200" height="285" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tShomacR9FI/Wm3jIsqcjSI/AAAAAAAAx-E/TAa4mY56ooAhF44jHFQ9sbRWdcYg5SCxQCLcBGAs/s400/Mama_011ab7_6467585.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Damn! That sucks. A few weeks ago women were marching all over the country again when it was the anniversary of Trump being sworn is as president. Some of this women had some really creative signs...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lMTgaaPa7n8/Wm3jzkg3etI/AAAAAAAAx-U/hYM1lOUcCqso1dyLAQ8MM9oQ8eO52YLdwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8eb.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="554" height="357" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lMTgaaPa7n8/Wm3jzkg3etI/AAAAAAAAx-U/hYM1lOUcCqso1dyLAQ8MM9oQ8eO52YLdwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8eb.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />That's great. So, I think I know where everyone is getting the idea to eat Tide Pods from...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JS6NTEXE64E/Wm3kK3yxJGI/AAAAAAAAx-Y/iZ9_aCNTcqcnf5wEoeEI6mQAordryscVQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_962.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="596" height="316" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JS6NTEXE64E/Wm3kK3yxJGI/AAAAAAAAx-Y/iZ9_aCNTcqcnf5wEoeEI6mQAordryscVQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_962.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />So, parents, I hope your child isn't like the one who did this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5krbCwo1p8k/Wm3nNmLUQOI/AAAAAAAAx_M/hKFPb8pUgc8pWnhixuTmVr4F9pnUe-k6gCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_965.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="550" height="222" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5krbCwo1p8k/Wm3nNmLUQOI/AAAAAAAAx_M/hKFPb8pUgc8pWnhixuTmVr4F9pnUe-k6gCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_965.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Haha. actually, that's pretty funny. Being this is the Phile's 12th anniversary year I have been showing you some celebrities how they have changed from 2006 til now. For instance in 2006 Emma Watson was Hermione.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JzY3-ZZ-Pk8/Wm3k5grB2xI/AAAAAAAAx-o/Bu-taiew--c24kqIukiQJf6F_FyWBru9ACLcBGAs/s1600/shutterstock180082649-StUYvo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JzY3-ZZ-Pk8/Wm3k5grB2xI/AAAAAAAAx-o/Bu-taiew--c24kqIukiQJf6F_FyWBru9ACLcBGAs/s320/shutterstock180082649-StUYvo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />In 2018 she is 2018 she is Belle...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o_9zjnBRTto/Wm3lBSKEB4I/AAAAAAAAx-s/GGAi7hj96YctMu4lCatW0JEFlv7xUToCwCLcBGAs/s1600/emma-watson-PuZAXp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="700" height="292" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o_9zjnBRTto/Wm3lBSKEB4I/AAAAAAAAx-s/GGAi7hj96YctMu4lCatW0JEFlv7xUToCwCLcBGAs/s320/emma-watson-PuZAXp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />So, as you know I live in Florida and there some crazy stuff that happens in Florida that happens no where else in the universe. That's why I have a pheature called...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uGT7y8uyTPE/Wm3mqJTh63I/AAAAAAAAx_E/otK1s1s0pLUYtDEtxPjyKt367W8K1YJAwCLcBGAs/s1600/americas-wang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="1000" height="282" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uGT7y8uyTPE/Wm3mqJTh63I/AAAAAAAAx_E/otK1s1s0pLUYtDEtxPjyKt367W8K1YJAwCLcBGAs/s400/americas-wang.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />The concept of find a message in a bottle sound whimsical enough on its own. But finding a message in a bottle that was sent over 30 years ago from Scotland enters a whole different stratosphere of remarkable. This unlikely scenario is precisely what happened to Florida residents Ruth and Lee Huenniger when they happened upon a message in a bottle lying under a fence near the Atlantic Ocean. The message itself was sent in the 1980s by a class of students from Forfar, Scotland who were learning about pirates. "We are learning all about pirates. We would like to see how far this message goes. Please write and tell us where you found this bottle. We are class 213, Chapelpark Academy Street," the message reads. Surprisingly well preserved, the Huennigers were not only able to read the decades old message, but they were able to decipher the return address and send a return letter. The letter's paper was covered in transpaseal to preserve it from water damage. Ruth Huenniger detailed to "The Daily Mail" how they found the letter, and how promptly they wrote a letter. "Lee found it after Hurricane Irma as he was checking for damage along a fence in our homeowner's association. It was a large plastic bottle, like a Coke bottle and it was frosted over and you could not see very well inside. Lee could not get the top off of it but saw a corner of the paper near the neck of the bottle. He was going to put in the recycle bin but decided to cut it open. It was several weeks maybe six before we received a response. We threw the original bottle out because we thought we were not going to hear anything else about the note." The Forfar school's location changed in 2007, however, Huennigers' letter still found its way to school staff. They received a letter back from recently retired teacher, Fiona Cargill, of Angus, Scotland. Cargill was pleasantly shocked by the letter, and managed to narrow the messages down to one of her classes from the 1980s. She said, "It's amazing. I liked to teach a project on pirates because it helped develop a lot of different skills. One part of that would involve getting in groups, writing a letter and sending a message in a bottle out to sea and seeing if it ever came back. I believe it is one class of primary 2/3 in particular because one of the children was related to a trawlerman in Arbroath who would take the bottle in their boat and throw it a bit further out so that it was less likely to just wash back ashore. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the pupil who wrote the letter but looking back there's an error where they meant to write 'street' which I found quite amusing. Stupidly, I forgot to get them to date the letter which really would have helped in narrowing it down." A few former students from the school found the story online and shared their memories. This must be a total mind bender for them. The story of finding this bottle truly exemplifies that one man's trash is another man's message in a bottle.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-96aBXXesmyo/Wm3oTi3J1vI/AAAAAAAAx_Y/ca34K-Xka7wdkvE64C3j334LUK6EeSlRQCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-96aBXXesmyo/Wm3oTi3J1vI/AAAAAAAAx_Y/ca34K-Xka7wdkvE64C3j334LUK6EeSlRQCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zD8w8s_zZSQ/Wm3oZ0ekMiI/AAAAAAAAx_c/OARZAalZTEkVAsk7BY3-fIhNOBDF5XsJQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_954.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="800" height="287" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zD8w8s_zZSQ/Wm3oZ0ekMiI/AAAAAAAAx_c/OARZAalZTEkVAsk7BY3-fIhNOBDF5XsJQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_954.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, so, I have been watching "The X-Files" and it made me think... I want to look into conspiracy theories. So, once again, here's...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ahuQopG1O3o/Wm3otD-i6zI/AAAAAAAAx_g/NIofk082XqAnEEeImkAAsgzMMAUEvHVTACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8a2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="69" data-original-width="400" height="68" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ahuQopG1O3o/Wm3otD-i6zI/AAAAAAAAx_g/NIofk082XqAnEEeImkAAsgzMMAUEvHVTACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8a2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />A secretive organization of people that control the world? Well, it turns out it does exist and many of its members are powerful world leaders and titans of industry. The real action happens at Bohemian Grove, which appears to primarily exist as a place, “where the rich and powerful go to misbehave” according to "The Washington Post." Or, alternatively, to hear it from the group directly, where members, “share a passion for the outdoors, music, and theater.” However, along with more traditional fare such as drinking and big dinners, the regular activities also reportedly include performing rituals before a giant wooden owl, according to "The Post." Owners of the property host a two-week retreat in California each year for some of the wealthiest and most influential Americans. Past attendees include Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, both of whom attended before entering the White House. Oh, and it’s where the idea for the atomic bomb was first sketched out. No big deal. <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rjF0vZLjdeg/Wm3pYyhwkiI/AAAAAAAAx_w/m9I4UHufsQMkT_2g6gc0Y5f6_JI5mjiKgCLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="510" height="187" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rjF0vZLjdeg/Wm3pYyhwkiI/AAAAAAAAx_w/m9I4UHufsQMkT_2g6gc0Y5f6_JI5mjiKgCLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4vfNg9Nyv38/Wm3phsbdSLI/AAAAAAAAx_0/s70O2yWcTrMtXKUiqwuDzy_2URwsYBWaQCLcBGAs/s1600/53-XtPOhr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="600" height="262" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4vfNg9Nyv38/Wm3phsbdSLI/AAAAAAAAx_0/s70O2yWcTrMtXKUiqwuDzy_2URwsYBWaQCLcBGAs/s400/53-XtPOhr.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />So, I wanted to see the movie <i>Dunkirk</i> when it came out and was gonna get to from Red Box or see if it was on Netflix. Anyway, a friend of the Phile saw it so I thought it'll be fun to invite him on the Phile to review it. If he likes the movie then I will definitely like it. He's a singer, patriot, and renaissance man. You know what time it is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V6cdQ413jFk/Wm3rAFaZkgI/AAAAAAAAyAE/LUMaHG1xl9YACq9QaKeWmR638usA_I3HACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8ff.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1566" data-original-width="1400" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V6cdQ413jFk/Wm3rAFaZkgI/AAAAAAAAyAE/LUMaHG1xl9YACq9QaKeWmR638usA_I3HACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8ff.jpeg" width="357" /></a></div><br />Good morning, humans. Happy Sunday, phuckerz. <i>Dunkirk</i>&nbsp;equals Tom Hardy’s spitfire slowly running out of fuel... a bunch of WW ll British soldiers NOT fighting... and Kenneth Branagh looking concerned and standing on a dock... FOR AN HOUR AND FORTY FIVE FUCKING MINUTES! That’s it. Total waste of my time. <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E4chRG6K2K8/Wm3r-qHWaiI/AAAAAAAAyAQ/5lAJCmcy7oIpHGM7lwAfaY-EWDgyof_wwCLcBGAs/s1600/yoursign-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E4chRG6K2K8/Wm3r-qHWaiI/AAAAAAAAyAQ/5lAJCmcy7oIpHGM7lwAfaY-EWDgyof_wwCLcBGAs/s400/yoursign-41.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />Guess I won't see <i>Dunkirk</i> now. Haha. The 74th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kUgBmc1ZU3U/Wm3sO4IDWAI/AAAAAAAAyAU/IXGOVSR0M2ABb-mt4mNQqWzT0h09aNL7QCLcBGAs/s1600/00129007_1024x1024.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kUgBmc1ZU3U/Wm3sO4IDWAI/AAAAAAAAyAU/IXGOVSR0M2ABb-mt4mNQqWzT0h09aNL7QCLcBGAs/s400/00129007_1024x1024.jpeg" width="266" /></a></div><br />Author David J. Hogan will be the guest on the Phile a week from tomorrow. And now for some...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hk-KwpFcGo0/Wm3szLocT5I/AAAAAAAAyAc/_fCFxCZRJYoFjttyizmEdBdwwqQCzKiBwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hk-KwpFcGo0/Wm3szLocT5I/AAAAAAAAyAc/_fCFxCZRJYoFjttyizmEdBdwwqQCzKiBwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Phact 1.</b> Babe Ruth’s daughter says that her father was never allowed to be a manager because he would have hired black players.<br /><br /><b>Phact 2. </b>British celebrity Katie Hopkins condemned parents who give geography-inspired names to their children in an interview. When the presenter pointed out that her daughter is called India she said “that’s not related to a location."<br /><br /><b>Phact 3. </b>In 2010, British goat milk farmer reportedly discovered his goats made more milk when Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas is You” was played on loop.<br /><br /><b>Phact 4. </b>Singer Lorde has sound-to-color synesthesia, a unique condition where sound blends with sight to create certain colors. This greatly contributed to the creative process on “Melodrama," where she wrote music to the violets and blues that appear on the album’s cover.<br /><br /><b>Phact 5.</b> There was an attempt in Indiana to legislate Pi to the number 3.2. It was abandoned on the day of the vote by a professor who pointed out that it was lacking any basis in proof.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0tDGae2Qf2k/Wm3tsiw5WWI/AAAAAAAAyAk/fFAPq0cH--Ad14wFtHrqngFYV5C3Vk6-ACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_953.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="400" height="377" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0tDGae2Qf2k/Wm3tsiw5WWI/AAAAAAAAyAk/fFAPq0cH--Ad14wFtHrqngFYV5C3Vk6-ACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_953.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />This is so freaking cool. Today's oheatured guests are the two founding members of the pretty popular band The Lumineers, whose latest album Their second album, "Cleopatra," was released in 2016 and debuted at number 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, and also on the Canadian and British album charts. It is already certified Gold in the U.S. Why the fuck are they here on the Phile? Haha. Please welcome to the Phile Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites from... The Lumineers.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wn33_K5QSnc/Wm3uqvPbV3I/AAAAAAAAyAw/5DQ94GfKsJ4tJf5U8gV9Dc-eIzAOXiNsgCLcBGAs/s1600/13895504_10153672809386332_5485353641380671812_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wn33_K5QSnc/Wm3uqvPbV3I/AAAAAAAAyAw/5DQ94GfKsJ4tJf5U8gV9Dc-eIzAOXiNsgCLcBGAs/s400/13895504_10153672809386332_5485353641380671812_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hello, fellas, welcome to the Phile. This is so cool to have you here. How are you?<br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> Hi, Jason. We are good.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, I have to tell you that I'm disappointed... I was hoping to interview the cute member of the Lumineers... Neyla. Haha. How is she?<br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> Sorry, Jason, we're cute as well. Neyla says hi though.<br /><b><br /></b><b>Me:</b> Hi, Neyla! Haha. Okay, I have to say I love your latest album "Cleopatra." Is it cool to have a hit second album after the first was so popular?<br /><br /><b>Wesley: </b>Thanks so much. It's great to have a second album out in general, it feels like an enormous weight off our shoulders I think.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I love the title track, guys. This song isn't about the actual Cleopatra? What is the story behind it?<br /><br /><b>Wesley: </b>There's a female taxi driver who probably is in her 50s at this point but through a friend of a friend I heard this love story of when she was about 15 she was in love with this boy and her father dies in the midst of all this he proposes to her and she's mourning the loss of her dad so she doesn't really give him an answer to his proposal. They live in a small town in the Republic of Georgia, next to Russia. I always have to say that as people think it's the United States' Georgia. So, anyway, he doesn't get an answer and leaves pretty rejected or hurt and he never returns to the small town. It was a rainy day when he proposed to her and he had tracked in these muddy footprints from the mud outside. She never sees him again but she refuses to wash those footprints off of her floor, and rug as it's kind of the only thing she has left to remember him by for that love that she missed. So I heard her story and learned more and more about her as time went on as I was really fascinated by that as any writer would be. Your antenna would go up if you heard something like that.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What came first with that song? The story and lyrics or the music first? I'm guessing the story...&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> I think we had the music first. We were singing different lyrics with it.<br /><br /><b>Jeremiah:</b> Yeah, Wes had a lot of the lyrics written, but that was the fun part. You know you have something great with lyrics and melody but how do you dress it up? Do you make it a fast song or a slow song? I think at first almost felt overly sentimental. It was slower and had this almost faster feel or something, for lack of a better description. And then we did the blistering fast tempo started off.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> We built a lot of tension through holding onto that first chord way, way longer than the original demos had. It created a lot more tension where there used to be a constant movement of chords. We saved those for the choruses.<br /><br /><b>Jeremiah:</b> It was exciting for me to as we only had one album out there so when we were pinned against something we already made we wanted to do something interesting and completely different. I was like wow, this is new material, I think we are able to do this song justice now. It was a good moment when we thought finally now, this song will get the due justice it deserves on record.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>My friend Sam pointed out to me recently when we were talking about you guys is that on the new album there's a lot of songs named after women... what is the reason behind this? Are they all characters you thought of?<br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> In the case of "Cleopatra," that was the archetype. When you're in the mode of song writing and you have so many syllables to work with to tell your story it was the most economical way of saying something. I was trying to connote that this woman was young and indestructible and viewed the world like she was gonna take it over as a young person. There was no fast way to say that so that became the title and it has a weight to it, that name. Something like "Angela" in that song, could've been Los Angeles or Fransesca. Sometimes words and names just feel right. There's a music accountability to it. I heard Keith Richards talk a lot about the music accountability of the words or if it needs to have a certain vowel sound. If the song was "Start the Engine" instead of "Start Me Up" it would make no sense. So they kinda knew that early on. Some of our songs you may notice like "Ophelia" doesn't start with an actual word. I think the sound is more important than the actual words. <br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Cool. So, how do you work together? Jeremiah, do you work on the music and Wesley, do you work on the words?<br /><b><br /></b><b>Jeremiah:</b> Yeah, that's right.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, what do you use to write the music, Jeremiah? You're the percussionist, but do you use piano or guitar?<br /><br /><b>Jeremiah:</b> You're right, it's mostly piano and guitar. I'm obsessed with the notion that it's been our thesis for the last six years that a great song can just work on a single instrument. "Ophelia" for example was just written on the fact that it has to just work on the piano and just us stomping and creating this background rhythm. We didn't want to leave any room that we would dress it up in the studio or quote and unquote fix it in the studio with effects or something like that. Because when you hear a great song, whether it's a Cat Stevens song or a Bruce Springsteen or Dylan, when you hear someone play it around a camp fire I usually get a little mad at how easy it is. How simple the chords are in fact and how the mysteries are revealed. It breathes so easily on a single instrument, so once we have that completed it's really fun to strip to and work other ways with other instruments. The tedious part is trying to make it work in that simple environment I think.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>With the success of your first album, and working on this second album, did you go back to any songs that you left off the first album? Does that make sense?<br /><br /><b>Jeremiah: </b>Yeah, it does. "Ophelia" was an old idea, from New Jersey, when we grew up in Ramsey that it was just this thing I would tinker around with and me and Wes were always drawn to it but we were never had time to work on it I guess. I remember when we were recording the first album the chorus was born during lunch when we spent fifteen hours in the studio and Wes just puked out "Ophelia."<br /><br /><b>&nbsp;Wesley: </b>Yeah, that was an interesting thing because I really like the Band and the Band has "Ophelia." That's their territory. I think I thought that was never gonna remain the title out of respect for the Band so it was pretty odd that the thing stuck. At the end of the day we felt okay and good about it but a lot of things in life and in music sometimes the first things that come out is the best thing. It's almost impossible to get a complete original thought or idea down. We're always building on each other I think.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I read that a lot of people try and interpret your songs. What do you think of that?<br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> It's like <i>all</i> the conspiracy theories. I think also the job of the artist in my opinion is to provoke and illicit something but what that thing is is not my job. If people feel ambivalence to what we're doing there's a problem there. So people's interpretations never ceases to amaze me how different than how I thought it was gonna be. Or what I thought at the time of writing it. It really is fascinating to me. When we toured recently with U2 and Bono said how "One" was people's first dance at a wedding and how really heartbreaking that song is for him. For us from the first album "Ho Hey" was like that. That became eerily because it was about heartbreak but became people's first dance. I think with "Ophelia" a song like that definitely for me was born out of being detached from touring so much. I think we toured for almost five years if you add it all up. We only had one album that was 43 minutes long and so we were being asked to play much longer than 43 minutes which was also a challenge. We all lost our way a little bit in all that and had to find it again.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>How long have you been writing together and when did you first realize you could write great songs together?<br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> I don't know, it's just kinda out friend. We both begrudgingly both agreed to meet up as a group but none of us really wanted to be there.<br /><br /><b>Jeremiah:</b> I think to it was really clunky. It wasn't like we met and started writing. I didn't know how to play piano when I met Wes, on a professional level you could say, 11 years ago. I remember trying to play one of Wes's old songs on this piano and it was just an easy idea but I just couldn't get it. I felt very frustrated with not having the command of a piano at all and trying to write songs. But it was cool. Whenever somebody had an idea we would just finish it. Now there is an insanely, specific, complex, process of what becomes a Lumineers song. Back then was any idea let's do it. I think we've written 75 to a 100 songs before the debut album together which is really cool. It's really hard to imagine how much we've written together. It was clunky though to sum it up.<br /><br /><b>Wesley: </b>Yeah, I think it's good in this kind of relationship Jer was really good in the theatrical and cinematically side of things. A lot of sounds that you hear buried underneath... that's Jer's wheelhouse. And mine is coming from a more singer-songwriter perspective so I'm putting a big owness on lyrics and melody. Our strengths don't always overlap and when we first met each other we didn't really understand what the other one is doing for a while. We realized afterwards the sings would come out better if the powers unite. When we combined our efforts it was a lot more interesting than just one.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I didn't realize you guys wrote the song Jennifer Lawrence sang for <i>The Hunger Games</i>. Did they tell you what to write? How was that experience?<br /><b><br /></b><b>Jeremiah:</b> It was pretty strange. We got to Skype with the director, Francis Lawrence. He was really generous, he Skyped with us a number of times. He just said this is what I'm looking for. It was a little bit of a tall task because he said he wanted like a children's nursery rhyme. So we tried to create this thing that could be hummed or sung.<br /><b><br /></b><b>Wesley:</b> It's just a timeless classic. What I realized too is a lot of nursery rhymes that we grew up on like "ring around a rosie, pocket full of posies, ashes to ashes, we all fall down" that's a really dark song when you think about it. So with the hanging tree, the subject of the song, we had to work backwards because the lyrics already existed in the book and we really never write that way. It was a really fun exercise but we went into it thinking this is a really big movie and they're probably asking twenty people to write this and they're gonna pick the best one. Then we got the news that they were gonna use it and then eventually Jennifer Lawrence sang it, and everything she does seems to be increasingly successful. It didn't shock me it got a lot of attention and she has a cool voice.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, you mentioned all the touring you did behind the first album. How did you find the time to write for the second album?<br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> We toured from April 2012 to mid-December 2014, so almost three years. Then we took two weeks off and then we began to write for the next record for six months. We rented a little house in Denver and treated it like a 9 to 5 and just showed up pretty much every day and drank way too much coffee and wrote as many songs as we could in that period of time and then we ended up going to a place just outside Woodstock, New York to record the album.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Were you fully prepared by time you go to the studio or were you writing there as well?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Jeremiah:</b> We were pretty prepared. I think we learned a while ago that if we were gonna spend anywhere from thousands a day to think about let's ponder what we were gonna do is not a great business model or an artistic model for that matter. I think we like to do it in the privacy of our homes. We have our own studio, and I mean that pretty lightly. It's like a pro-tools rig and a couple of mics basically, and a few instruments that we love. We find it easier and more fun to go into the studio and do these things that we know already worked instead of this idea like we are gonna meet around the campfire and smoke some weed and it's gonna be a black out moment of epiphany and fun or whatever. The song "Angela" however was written in the studio through a lot of handwork. Wes kept on tinkering with it and tinkering with it and the producer, Simone Felice, I could see this really cool thing happening, they were really kinda egging each other on musically. It was so magnetic or something. The song was born in the studio. It was so cool to see that and be a part of that.<br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> I think there's a little uncertainty about it. If the whole album sounded like that I don't think it'll be as good but it sticks out for me when I hear it because it's so fresh to all of us when we're playing it.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Your music sounds basic but obviously isn't. Did you ever get any grief from your label, manager or anybody about the music?<br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> Yeah, I think it's something we found interesting, even at festivals playing, we have a song called "Slow It Down" which is on the first record, and we were up against it with the label. They said it's gotta be a real recording and we looked at each other and thought what does that really mean.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Jeremiah:</b> Yeah, it was kinda like "your painting is beautiful can't wait til you redo it." What do you mean? You said you loved it.<br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> So, that stayed on the album. We noticed when we played something like Glastonbury, it was interesting that that was almost one of the most special moments of the show. For a lot of people it seemed like a risk but I rather go out with something we really believe in and find interesting, not trying to appeal to the "lowest common denominator" by adding drums and more arrangement.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Did you ever put something on a record or add something to a song and you were like no way, that sucks, or that is way too much?<br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> We had some of Bruce Springsteen's horn players come in to play on "Ophelia." I was thinking is this one of those moments when we were just taking advantage of our resources and we're really not thinning this few.<br /><br /><b>Jeremiah:</b> When we have these guys come in, they're human beings in front of us and we hit play... it was really fun listening back to it, but thinking I don;t really want to use this. That was hard to make a decision like alright, thanks guys. We didn't mean to sound like a mean person but that sounds cool but I don't anybody to hear to ever again.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, who are your influences, guys? I couldn't guess who'd you say. Haha.<br /><br /><b>Wesley: </b>I remember listening to Feist a lot and people don't normally bring her name up probably as much as her influences actually carries but she had a dramatic impact on both of us hearing her albums. I remember that song "The Park," where it's just birds in the background and a shitty acoustic guitar and a french horn suddenly comes in and it's just her and it's unbelievably moving. It's so much powerful than what's out there that you hear. I kinda see us a combination of Feist and Billy Joel somehow.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, I have to mention "Ho Hey." How did that song come about and were you surprised when it got so popular?<br /><br /><b>Wesley: </b>I think we figured out that was a live phenomenon song so wasn't gonna work in the studio. We almost didn't put it on the record because we weren't happy with the recording and we tried all sort of things in the demo phase. I remember we ended up in a bath tub trying to write the reverb. We were gonna back to the original open mic setting at a dive bar we liked because we liked the sound of the wood when Jer slammed his foot down we were gonna record there. We had all those ideas but I think what we went back to was just the layering. Like with Queen with "We Will Rock You," when they layered the stomps and claps they were trying to create how long it takes for the guy clapping in a distance to the guy next to you, how does that sound with a big sound of claps in a real way. We began honing on that and creating a chunkier, fatter stomp and fatter clap. Then it started to feel like it did live. But I don't think we had a whole lot of faith in that song. We didn't think it'll do anything, just be this sort of live thing that people looked forward to.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, what's the story behind the song?<br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> It was written very quickly in an apartment in Brooklyn I was living in. A lot of songs came out of me then, which may be a good lesson which wasn't the best of times. Sometimes you have to turn inward to create those good times when you are struggling a little bit. I think it was a stubborn defiance to the shit time I was having. It's sort of loosely based on an old melody that I tweaked a little bit, but from a different song. Often time that's the nature of what we do, we take little things that we think of gems but don't really have a home and they end up finding a place in another song. Most of the songs we have are Frankenstein monsters of three or four songs or something. They're snippets of a few different things.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b>&nbsp;I have to tell you guys this... two days ago I got in my car and "Ho Hey" was on the radio. Then last night I was watching "The X-Files" and "Hey Ho" played on that episode. So, two days leading up to this entry I heard that song twice. Okay, so, I have to ask you about one last song... "Gun Song" from the new album. Guns are a big thing in the news right now because of the shooting spree in Vegas, and other places, so I have to ask to what the story is about this song.<br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> The story about "Gun Song" is my father passed away in 2007... actually on 7/7/07 at 7:07 a.m. so some quality of 7 is really special to me. Right after that I was working this job and I needed to wear black socks... I was a waiter. They would send you home if you didn't have black socks on, it was that kind of place. I didn't have any clean socks but my father had just passed away and I knew his clothes were still in his drawer. I was running late so I ran in to grab a pair of black socks and instead I pick out a gun I didn't know he had in that drawer. I put down the gun obviously and I grab the socks and I run to work. On the drive over and on the shift I'm just thinking about all the things that A) I can't ask him about about this and B) all the things I didn't know about this person I thought I knew so well that's gone now. So, the origins of that song all sprung up from that one moment of overwhelming sense of what the hell just happened, I don't have time to deal with this right now, I have to get to work.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Wow. My dad passed on February 7th at 7 a.m. but in 2000. I like the holy shit moment in the song. Haha.<br /><br /><b>Wesley:</b> Yeah. I remember saying to my mom why didn't you tell me and she said it wasn't loaded. It was just an odd response.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b>&nbsp;Thanks, so much for being on the Phile, guys. Tell Neyla I want to interview her. Haha. Continued success and I hope to see you in concert soon.<br /><br /><b>Wesley: </b>Thanks, this was fun. Have a good one, Jason.<br /><br /><b>Jeremiah:</b> Thanks, Jason, I like your blog. This was a treat for us. Take care.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Thanks.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t-mqOuEkm50/Wm30AufGR6I/AAAAAAAAyBA/nJtLdi9La98gvtCFab_LaTkfZXldmIRJwCLcBGAs/s1600/61-6C0KM8dL._SS500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t-mqOuEkm50/Wm30AufGR6I/AAAAAAAAyBA/nJtLdi9La98gvtCFab_LaTkfZXldmIRJwCLcBGAs/s320/61-6C0KM8dL._SS500.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Damn. That was so bloody good. Thanks to my guests Laird Jim and of course Wesley and Jeremiah from The Lumineers. The Phile will be back tomorrow with Robert LaRoche from The Sighs. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hp2JFEGDR1s/Wm32LiHEk1I/AAAAAAAAyBM/6FPpgMCivMIo_Jlov1i4kNkfB7imv2I1gCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_967.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="941" height="301" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hp2JFEGDR1s/Wm32LiHEk1I/AAAAAAAAyBM/6FPpgMCivMIo_Jlov1i4kNkfB7imv2I1gCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_967.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="post-footer" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"></div><br /><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6104527215605458981" itemprop="description articleBody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; orphans: auto; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; width: 586px; word-spacing: 0px;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i><div style="clear: both;"></div></div>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-61045272156054589812018-01-25T12:20:00.001-05:002018-01-25T12:20:59.996-05:00Pheaturing Field Music<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jSyKGFsUcoI/WmnrMXzQCYI/AAAAAAAAx3M/JrDmzLcarYcEdvkdpEY6fYML6vuWG_sKACLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jSyKGFsUcoI/WmnrMXzQCYI/AAAAAAAAx3M/JrDmzLcarYcEdvkdpEY6fYML6vuWG_sKACLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hey</b> kids, welcome to the Phile for a Thursday. How are you? How's you week going? I hope it's going better than the Philadelphia Eagles fan who got arrested for punching a horse. If you feel like you've heard this story before, it's because you have. Last week, a hardcore Eagles fan and horse hater was arrested for punching a police horse after the Eagles vs. Falcons game, and now another dude decided to do the same tailgating the game against the Vikings. Andrew Tornetta, 19, thought it would be fun to get hyped for the ultimately winning game with a little man-on-horse violence. The video is fucking insane. Her's a screenshot...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NOBw26iF5A8/Wmn1HYmV0rI/AAAAAAAAx30/JD68992T3Ewurt9oKH2jFu8BGdU66AuegCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-25%2Bat%2B10.11.45%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="580" height="220" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NOBw26iF5A8/Wmn1HYmV0rI/AAAAAAAAx30/JD68992T3Ewurt9oKH2jFu8BGdU66AuegCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-25%2Bat%2B10.11.45%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />According to the police, here's how it went down, "The corporal gave verbal commands for the persons to leave the area. However, one person refused. While mounted atop the horse, the corporal began to escort him away from the crowd, again telling him to leave. The offender became verbally combative and maneuvered himself out of his jacket, and was grabbed by his sweatshirt to maintain control, due to him being under arrest. The corporal gave verbal commands for the persons to leave the area. However, one person refused. While mounted atop the horse, the corporal began to escort him away from the crowd, again telling him to leave. The offender became verbally combative and maneuvered himself out of his jacket, and was grabbed by his sweatshirt to maintain control, due to him being under arrest." What is it with Philadelphians and punching horses? I'm starting to think that "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is a documentary.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VaCmQHbY4K8/Wmn1U47VVuI/AAAAAAAAx34/9q2dzTzeNCUcIuzjPkIUKJPn15-4AbM2ACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_93c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="930" height="260" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VaCmQHbY4K8/Wmn1U47VVuI/AAAAAAAAx34/9q2dzTzeNCUcIuzjPkIUKJPn15-4AbM2ACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_93c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Buckle</b> in to your party seats folks, because Party City just pulled an ad that offended people with gluten allergies, and the world is officially an absurd blue ball spinning into pure oblivion. The party store issued an official apology statement on Monday after people with Celiac slammed them for making fun of gluten allergies in a commercial. The commercial in question features two women getting ready to host a Super Bowl shindig, their table includes a generous spread of goodies, including Food Network star Sunny Anderson's inflatable snack stadium. At one point, a woman gestures to a single snack plate separated on a stool, "Those are some gluten-free options." “Do we even know people that are like that?” the other woman replies. “Tina,” the first woman answers. “Oh, gross, yeah,” the second concludes. A handful of people on Twitter didn't appreciate the dig at gluten allergies. Following their decision to remove the ad, Party City issued a full apology statement, and pledged to donate to Celiac Disease research.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oTgd5Ox72ms/WmntAHawC6I/AAAAAAAAx3Y/Zm1Pke82eTM_aQZw5Eq2ptUROBQpLMEsQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-25%2Bat%2B9.41.50%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="587" height="333" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oTgd5Ox72ms/WmntAHawC6I/AAAAAAAAx3Y/Zm1Pke82eTM_aQZw5Eq2ptUROBQpLMEsQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-25%2Bat%2B9.41.50%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />The Food Network star Sunny Anderson shared the full apology on her Instagram, and thanked Party City for apologizing with the swiftness. Due to the backlash, the full commercial is no longer available for viewing. My nephew has Celiac's and I know if my sister saw that commercial she'd be pissed off as well.<br /><b>We</b> loved you, Barney. You loved us, Barney. We were all a happy family back in the '90s when times were simple BUT NOT ANYMORE. It's 2018. We've grown up. And so has the man who used to play your favorite purple dinosaur from childhood. David Joyner, the guy inside the Barney costume from 1991 to 2001, has moved on to a very different career path. According to a profile in Vice, he's now working as a "tantra massage specialist and spiritual healer," charging $350 for a three-to-four hour session. During these sessions, his exclusively female clients receive: a ritual bath, chakra balancing, a massage (BO-RING) and, finally, "cosmic, mind-blowing orgasms." According to Vice, the goal of these sessions is to "fully release a woman’s blocked energy." "When the lingam [penis] and the yoni [vagina] meet, there’s a certain energy that takes place that hands on the body alone cannot create," Joyner, 54, told Vive. "Even through G-spot massage, it’s still not the same energy that flows." BRB erasing all childhood memories of the TV show. Okay, now I'm back. Barney who? So, here's a quote from the interview, in which Joyner relates his work as Barney to what he does now, "The energy I brought up [while] in the costume is based on the foundation of tantra, which is love. Everything stems, grows, and evolves from love. Even when you have emotionally blocked energy, the best way to remove it is to remove it with love, and then replace it with God’s divine love. Love heals and allows you to continue to grow." Here's another quote from the interview, "Once the lingam is inside the yoni, there’s a technique where you don’t even move. You’re harmonizing spiritually and consciously, as you’re looking into each other’s eyes, and you’re feeling each other’s energy take place. This is about energy moving up. A lot of women have never really had spiritual sex." You getting that spiritual sex, LADIES??? Alright, dude. We get it. I suppose as long as everything is consensual in this tantric sex business, there's nothing wrong with this man's new career path. In fact, maybe he's actually doing some good in the world. And yet... does it have to be the guy who played Barney??? UGH. I'LL BE HAUNTED BY THIS FOR LIFE.<br /><b>It </b>has been 23 days since Logan Paul created a huge controversy by filming a dead body hanging in Japan's "suicide forest" and sharing it online for his millions of followers, many of them teens. And in those 23 days, Logan Paul has clearly undergone a full emotional and spiritual transformation (hired a new PR person). The 23-year-old has been taking a "break" from social media ever since his December 31st video went viral, causing YouTube to end their business partnership. But he's back with a cropped haircut and a completely different personality (empathetic? aware?) in a new video called "Suicide: Be Here Tomorrow." "I know I have made mistakes," says Logan somberly in the new vid. "I know I have let people down. But what happens when you are given an opportunity to help make a difference in the world?" In the video, Paul talks to various experts in the mental health field, like John Draper, director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and Bob Forrest, who runs the Alo House Recovery Center. He also talks to a man who survived his own suicide attempt, and promises to donate a million dollars to various suicide prevention organizations. "It’s time to learn from the past as I get better and grown as a human being," he says. "I’m here to have hard conversations so that those who are suffering can have easier ones." Paul, who in addition to making light of suicide also openly mocked Japanese culture and people throughout his visit, continued, "It is time to start a new chapter in my life as I continue to educate both myself and others on suicide I am humbled and thankful to say this is just the beginning." Paul, we're looking forward to his next apology video... "Racism. Be here tomorrow." JK. We're looking forward to hopefully never hearing about Logan Paul again.<br /><b>Alleged</b> serial rapist Bill Cosby decided to return to the fine art of standup comedy the other night after a two year hiatus, making a surprise appearance at a jazz club in Philadelphia. Because that's just what the world needs right now: more sexual predators in comedy! And more surprises! The 80-year-old comedian, who is accused by dozens of women of sexual abuse including multiple counts of allegedly drugging and raping women, performed storytelling and standup for an audience of about 50 people Monday night, NPR reports. According to NPR, Cosby's comedy included a story about his drunk uncle William, and the birth of his little brother when he was a kid. He also joked about aging and his impending blindness, with no mention of his trial or the over 60 women who have accused him of assault. Hilarious! "You laugh when blind people walk into things. And guess what? Blind people laugh when sighted people fall down," Cosby says, laughing at himself. At some point in the evening, he moved on to drums. This guy really is a jack of all trades. This is reportedly the first time Cosby has performed publicly since 2015, when his alleged victims began to speak publicly after a video of comedian Hannibal Buress joking about the accusations went viral. If you're needing a bit of a comedy palate cleanser, you can watch that video here on-line. Remember there's lots of great comedy out there, not being performed by alleged serial rapists! Check it out!<br /><b>Hey</b>, parents, would you be proud of your kid in school if they wrote this?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wY9_gwEb9Fk/Wmn3a0X8DTI/AAAAAAAAx4I/g6GlZfz6vys-mXMb96lqeRnmNbBqtgxnwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_93d.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="800" height="103" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wY9_gwEb9Fk/Wmn3a0X8DTI/AAAAAAAAx4I/g6GlZfz6vys-mXMb96lqeRnmNbBqtgxnwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_93d.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. If I had a TARDIS I would go back in time and face Stalin... but knowing my luck this is the response I'd get...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gAlUNdGKBbU/Wmn4lvKXkgI/AAAAAAAAx4U/Os1AFPhj7IMKRBzj64RMID0_5xlxqC_4gCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_93f.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="492" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gAlUNdGKBbU/Wmn4lvKXkgI/AAAAAAAAx4U/Os1AFPhj7IMKRBzj64RMID0_5xlxqC_4gCLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_93f.jpeg" width="236" /></a></div><br />And it'll be the wrong Stalin. Haha. Inside joke. So, I was supposed to Google the Disney movie "Lady and the Tramp" and instead Googled "Lady and the Trump" and this is what I got...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KLYkTjMgcWk/Wmn5ZaEd1dI/AAAAAAAAx4g/0YWOvLlk0w8aNx8_6434NE6Gx7sisQh0QCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_940.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="379" height="314" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KLYkTjMgcWk/Wmn5ZaEd1dI/AAAAAAAAx4g/0YWOvLlk0w8aNx8_6434NE6Gx7sisQh0QCLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_940.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Hahahahaha. If you feel you have bad luck, just think it could be worse...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uQiVGv5nM4w/Wmn542qoN-I/AAAAAAAAx4s/ax8w9emoCzM3zDIQbFL-P18rmkq2V8d6wCLcBGAs/s1600/Mama%252Bim%252Bcoming%252Bhome_d7fdcf_6467585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1472" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uQiVGv5nM4w/Wmn542qoN-I/AAAAAAAAx4s/ax8w9emoCzM3zDIQbFL-P18rmkq2V8d6wCLcBGAs/s400/Mama%252Bim%252Bcoming%252Bhome_d7fdcf_6467585.jpg" width="325" /></a></div><br />That sucks. Here's another Yelp review of Trump's hotel in Washington D.C...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gd60m7BOb2I/Wmn6VEGGZLI/AAAAAAAAx40/OLeZ784EzWATfT-j6DLK0-9_Iq4MUw2uQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8c0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="700" height="207" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gd60m7BOb2I/Wmn6VEGGZLI/AAAAAAAAx40/OLeZ784EzWATfT-j6DLK0-9_Iq4MUw2uQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8c0.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Last weekend there was more Women's March and some of the women had the best signs...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7Sq__L48F7E/Wmn6_8c2X3I/AAAAAAAAx5A/qtbfJQLAsbUYQfzuzsCaAx4nSmGMzlj_QCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8ea.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="418" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7Sq__L48F7E/Wmn6_8c2X3I/AAAAAAAAx5A/qtbfJQLAsbUYQfzuzsCaAx4nSmGMzlj_QCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8ea.jpeg" width="330" /></a></div><br />I love the vagina one in the background as well. Haha. Hey, I love Pringles and there's a new flavor out...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pJzdPatPvgg/Wmn7NAKYJ2I/AAAAAAAAx5E/hddGmSupxXg5EUkjVaFBUUmHZE4_j0jGQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="725" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pJzdPatPvgg/Wmn7NAKYJ2I/AAAAAAAAx5E/hddGmSupxXg5EUkjVaFBUUmHZE4_j0jGQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_3158.JPG" width="241" /></a></div><br /><br />I wanna try those. So, ever go to a bar or somewhere and see a tip jar? Sometimes they are very creative...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ql0NYcm_1ak/Wmn7sMgLgsI/AAAAAAAAx5M/kKqOex36ilwpl2eVtnMhJ8jYor7rzIoZACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_943.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="600" height="283" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ql0NYcm_1ak/Wmn7sMgLgsI/AAAAAAAAx5M/kKqOex36ilwpl2eVtnMhJ8jYor7rzIoZACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_943.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />So it's the Phile's 12th anniversary this year and I'm showing you how some celebrities have changed from 2006 til 2018. For example Drake...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nOK-TzO66dQ/Wmn79zCVv5I/AAAAAAAAx5Q/ftWd7jG4ZCAGzn9cgOoOJ_BND4nSHnPiQCLcBGAs/s1600/shutterstock113716018-0e0pOx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nOK-TzO66dQ/Wmn79zCVv5I/AAAAAAAAx5Q/ftWd7jG4ZCAGzn9cgOoOJ_BND4nSHnPiQCLcBGAs/s320/shutterstock113716018-0e0pOx.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />In 2006 he was Aubrey Graham. And in 2018... <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4pwoYmDNCrs/Wmn8P1wICYI/AAAAAAAAx5Y/jRnO065aq94wsFUP-ujYUpX2IgxBOlEmwCLcBGAs/s1600/drake-UzZQAN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4pwoYmDNCrs/Wmn8P1wICYI/AAAAAAAAx5Y/jRnO065aq94wsFUP-ujYUpX2IgxBOlEmwCLcBGAs/s320/drake-UzZQAN.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />He is Drake. hey, it's Thursday... you know what that means...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OsRtA_G8zp0/Wmn8dSrWFhI/AAAAAAAAx5k/Ca7tlN9Fwr8IqnV3kzyJZ44h_wnAdj4XACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_15.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="531" height="276" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OsRtA_G8zp0/Wmn8dSrWFhI/AAAAAAAAx5k/Ca7tlN9Fwr8IqnV3kzyJZ44h_wnAdj4XACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_15.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3yWDDKn8ag4/Wmn83TKH03I/AAAAAAAAx5o/ysHJAiQWiq0vgFJh2I0ej-D_mK7giS78QCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_944.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3yWDDKn8ag4/Wmn83TKH03I/AAAAAAAAx5o/ysHJAiQWiq0vgFJh2I0ej-D_mK7giS78QCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_944.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Lymphatic filariasis, also known as elephantiasis, is best known from dramatic photos of people with grossly enlarged or swollen arms and legs, or groin. The disease is caused by parasitic worms, including Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, and B. timori, all transmitted by mosquitoes. Lymphatic filariasis currently affects 120 million people worldwide, and 40 million of these people are seriously diseased. When an infected female mosquito bites a person, she may inject the worm larvae, called microfilariae, into the blood. The microfilariae reproduce and spread throughout the bloodstream, where they can live for many years. Often disease symptoms do not appear until years after infection. As the parasites accumulate in the blood vessels, they can restrict circulation and cause fluid to build up in surrounding tissues. The most common, visible signs of infection are excessively enlarged arms, legs, genitalia, and breasts. Ugh!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0HPNMmc5S5k/Wmn9MJ7rhuI/AAAAAAAAx5w/_vc50lkShzApkXRHcoRIUeHvHCbmbmVWgCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0HPNMmc5S5k/Wmn9MJ7rhuI/AAAAAAAAx5w/_vc50lkShzApkXRHcoRIUeHvHCbmbmVWgCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eqvWWJ0keNs/Wmn9udgpZ0I/AAAAAAAAx58/vWPjsRP0jsIu1dCpV8056GNzxIpxvaZnACLcBGAs/s1600/Cursed_13180a_6337521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="589" height="372" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eqvWWJ0keNs/Wmn9udgpZ0I/AAAAAAAAx58/vWPjsRP0jsIu1dCpV8056GNzxIpxvaZnACLcBGAs/s400/Cursed_13180a_6337521.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. It's time to talk football with my friend Jeff.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FeotuD6z8SI/Wmn-CFg7v0I/AAAAAAAAx6E/vtiv2_IryyQ89OL_pf70tvB82eY1tBFkQCLcBGAs/s1600/21175267_10155181387409355_2128367425_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="574" height="216" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FeotuD6z8SI/Wmn-CFg7v0I/AAAAAAAAx6E/vtiv2_IryyQ89OL_pf70tvB82eY1tBFkQCLcBGAs/s400/21175267_10155181387409355_2128367425_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me: </b>Ugh! Fuck! The Patriots are going back to the Super Bowl! Motherfucker! Hey, Jeff, how are you? Welcome back to the Phile.<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> Fucking stupid damn Patriots. Fucking stupid damn Eagles. Oh hi, Jason. Always great to be back on the Phile. I'm okay, I guess. You?<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I'm okay. So, are you happy about the two teams being in the Bowl? I really wanted the Jags and Vikings to be in it.<br /><br /><b>Jeff: </b>No, I'm not happy about it. I saw on Facebook the other someone that might be a mutual friend of ours, I'm not sure, posted, "First we had an election with the two worse candidates, now we have a Super Bowl with the two worse teams." I couldn't agree more.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Fucking Eagles fans... fucking Philadelphia... I have such a sour taste in my mouth over Pennsylvania. Haha. Eagles fans, this will be the worse Super Bowl ever. I don't want either team to win. Jeff, did you see the Eagles fans pound the Vikings bus with beers as it attempted to leave the stadium?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> You have a bad taste in your mouth? How do you think <i>I</i> feel? The Eagles are my ex-wife's team as well as my brother's team and I still have to root for them because they are the lesser of the two evils because I despite New England. I didn't see that about the bus, but I'm not the least bit surprised by that.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>One fucking Eagles fan was riding dune buggies up the Rocky steps to celebrate the win. Imagine what they would do if they won the Bowl?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> Philadelphia will burn to the ground, win or lose. We are talking about fans who once booed Santa Claus. SANTA CLAUS!<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> True. Haha. I thought this was annoying and funny at the same time... The city of Philadelphia sent out crews Sunday morning to attempt to combat fans from climbing street lights in case of a win. Eagles fans would not be denied. Eagles fans chanted "fuck that grease!" as they still climbed up the street lights.<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> Say what you will about Philly fans, they are determined.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay, enough about the Eagles... like I said I don't want either team to win. It's gonna be a rough game. Any other NFL news you have? Anything positive to say? Hahaha.<br /><br /><b>Jeff: </b>Right now the biggest news is the new head coaches around the league. New England is losing both their coordinators after Super Bowl to become head coaches. During the Jags-NE game, Gronk sustained a concussion. No word if he will be cleared by the Super Bowl.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, how did we do with our picks, Jeff? I suck, right?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> When I went to see how we did, I confused myself. I picked the same teams by the same spread two weeks in a row. Unfortunately I went 0-2 and you went 1-1. So you're gaining on me! Not that it matters at this point.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay, let's pick the Super Bowl winners. I am gonna rub my head, try not to throw up and predict the Eagles by 12. The Patriots will not have back to back wins... and I don't think the Eagles will make the same mistake the Falcons dod last year. What do you predict, Jeff?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> If you have the Eagles, just to make it interesting I will pick New England by 8.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, I'll see you back here on Monday after the Super Bowl. Have a good few weeks... it's gonna be a rough game.<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> See you in two weeks to wrap up Phootball Talk.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZFy6F19766w/WmoBycPTMyI/AAAAAAAAx6U/3gyZYXYDOnMXyURZ1AuZQbpfKc2KtM11ACLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="400" height="187" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZFy6F19766w/WmoBycPTMyI/AAAAAAAAx6U/3gyZYXYDOnMXyURZ1AuZQbpfKc2KtM11ACLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wa4Q653mmD4/WmoCVs9zqjI/AAAAAAAAx6g/PfD3dM-grAIJmgfCOdCwEGuu5auy3kZ8gCLcBGAs/s1600/54-h1FQ44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wa4Q653mmD4/WmoCVs9zqjI/AAAAAAAAx6g/PfD3dM-grAIJmgfCOdCwEGuu5auy3kZ8gCLcBGAs/s400/54-h1FQ44.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hahahahahaha. Okay, so, there's a lot of different blogs out there. Not all are entertaining and not all have lasted 12 years, but there's some good ones. So once again I thought I'll put another blog into...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tjo62dbk6i0/WmoCuIK3xpI/AAAAAAAAx6s/rc6KXqHiC6sw8ftTb2F-MiXlwlNqGEePQCLcBGAs/s1600/made_at_www-1.txt2pic.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="400" height="340" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tjo62dbk6i0/WmoCuIK3xpI/AAAAAAAAx6s/rc6KXqHiC6sw8ftTb2F-MiXlwlNqGEePQCLcBGAs/s400/made_at_www-1.txt2pic.com.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today's award goes to <a href="http://binomialbaker.blogspot.com/">binomialbaker.blogspot.com</a>, and this is what the blog looks like...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J8ONWZ-3xzE/WmoE7Mi2_jI/AAAAAAAAx68/gF9UfpeyRT0oV6GWMOp3aOCnfWZqm2YtgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-25%2Bat%2B11.23.53%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="725" data-original-width="1335" height="217" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J8ONWZ-3xzE/WmoE7Mi2_jI/AAAAAAAAx68/gF9UfpeyRT0oV6GWMOp3aOCnfWZqm2YtgCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-25%2Bat%2B11.23.53%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />It hasn't been updated since November 25th, 2016. What? Anyway, go to BinomialBaker and leave comment that I sent you... but finish this Phile entry first.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aFGjicYPaxE/WmoGV4XLfzI/AAAAAAAAx7I/9OMUMNiVV5Ex_TEKvmGAwD_ziOjFPHVhACLcBGAs/s1600/yoursign-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aFGjicYPaxE/WmoGV4XLfzI/AAAAAAAAx7I/9OMUMNiVV5Ex_TEKvmGAwD_ziOjFPHVhACLcBGAs/s400/yoursign-41.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />The 74th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oiVCK6UXthw/WmoGkgPpI2I/AAAAAAAAx7M/qNF-AXCnaCwK0t4Sc-7XCDQpj8yNbIWPQCLcBGAs/s1600/00129007_1024x1024.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oiVCK6UXthw/WmoGkgPpI2I/AAAAAAAAx7M/qNF-AXCnaCwK0t4Sc-7XCDQpj8yNbIWPQCLcBGAs/s320/00129007_1024x1024.jpeg" width="212" /></a></div><br />David will be the guest on the Phile a week from Monday... not next Monday but the Monday after that.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BaGDjltv1zc/WmoHcKXIhuI/AAAAAAAAx7k/dKlYPbgaIUUd6caD5jPy9F_fso55_oTwwCLcBGAs/s1600/again.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BaGDjltv1zc/WmoHcKXIhuI/AAAAAAAAx7k/dKlYPbgaIUUd6caD5jPy9F_fso55_oTwwCLcBGAs/s400/again.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Connie Sawyer&nbsp;</b><br />November 27th, 1912 — January 20th, 2018<br />They called her The Clown Princess of Comedy Yeah. She was hysterical.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JpXID8WTj5Y/WmoH2cTowgI/AAAAAAAAx7o/ROnSc4XhnvEA46KLn0NgDE7z9044hAoCwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_947.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="300" height="374" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JpXID8WTj5Y/WmoH2cTowgI/AAAAAAAAx7o/ROnSc4XhnvEA46KLn0NgDE7z9044hAoCwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_947.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today's pheatured guests are the members of the English band Field Music whose new album "Open Here" comes out next week on iTunes and in stores. Please welcome to the Phile... David Brewis and Peter Brewis.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lqql39WkGXM/WmoJdp6if3I/AAAAAAAAx74/DCRLaD9X33E_c6JM-VazfqO7RkqZbwi1gCLcBGAs/s1600/12495183_10153831274058622_3290305173022067761_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="960" height="260" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lqql39WkGXM/WmoJdp6if3I/AAAAAAAAx74/DCRLaD9X33E_c6JM-VazfqO7RkqZbwi1gCLcBGAs/s400/12495183_10153831274058622_3290305173022067761_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hey, boys, welcome to the Phile. Thanks for being here. How are you?<br /><br /><b>David: </b>Good to be here. I'm well.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You guys are from England, right? What part?<br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You two are very busy I was told. Do you find it hard to do a lot of things in your life like write music, and interviews like this?<br /><br /><b>David:</b> We do at the moment. I find that in the broadest sense I have to find the strategy in how I'm gonna write as well as when I'm gonna write. I mean I think I was finding that before anyway. I was starting to think how to break out a certain routines. Certainly for me I was thinking what can I do to wait around for lyrics to come for instance.<br /><br /><b>Peter: </b>Yeah, you definitely can't do that for six months, especially when you are trying to catch up with life.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Do you both write with the same style and same routine?<br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> I use a dictaphone and notebook.<br /><br /><b>David:</b> I have a little four-track app on my phone. It doesn't work very well but it's enough. I'm always scribbling. For some reason I like to scribble in pencil on unlined paper. It's my favourite but whatever.<br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> It''s the kind of stuff you can auction off at Sotheby's in a few years time, isn't it?<br /><br /><b>David: </b>I don't think so. These are the lyrics that were so bad I crossed out.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You're brothers, right? Do you get along being in the same band?<br /><br /><b>David: </b>We do work pretty well together once we decided what we are going to do.<br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> Yeah, we have a kinda shared language really. We don't really need to say a lot to explain our ideas and generally if Dave's initiated a song idea or I have it's one of us who basically make the decisions on things. We take a revolving dictatorship in which one of us in charge. We use the same words for things.<br /><br /><b>David: </b>We have the same background in music listening. It doesn't mean sometimes we play with different musicians which might be great but we would think oh, no, we would never do that kind of thing. I never have to say to Pete, "Oh no, we would never do that."<br /><br /><b>Peter: </b>It's kinda like a quick editorial process. We are quick enough to dismiss things if I'm not sure of something and I'm on the borderline and tissed, then I can ask Dave and ask, "Am I alright doing this? Is this acceptable?" It's very rare that he says no. It's like he's setting me up for a fall or something.<br /><br /><b>David: </b>Maybe I have no editorial instinct...<br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> Maybe not.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I love new album and song I love the song "Share a Pillow." Why? Haha. What's the story behind that song?<br /><br /><b>David: </b>Ummm... we were busy doing something else in the studio and I was messing about on the bass and I came up with a baseline and I though oh, god, no. Pete said, "No, that's good. You should do something with that." It got put in the pile of little snippets of music we have that eventually we want to make something out of. Usually on this record we just got together and played a bit. We are quite conscious that are don't want to make the demo that good that we then find ourselves trying to create that demo. When bands do that it seems like a frustrating to do so we make the worst demos possible. One microphone for the drums, we just put it through this compressor and nothing else and it'll sound terrible. We played around with a couple of ideas with Dave playing drums and me playing bass and then I made a demo of these sections we made. I must of had a moment in the studio and pieced it together from these little bits and because I was approaching it like a pop song I found it quite easy. I know what a pop song is supposed to do. I know where it's supposed to build and supposed to drop. I know when I needed to leave an extra bar for that extra drummer. A lot of things on this album was to try and capture late this song and add lyrics to the chorus in a way we have't done before. Quite often a chorus to us is a like a raised eyebrow at the end of a verse. It's like commentary on what happened before but on this I want almost all of the feeling in the song to be in the chorus. So, it was easy and painless. Then we had to create this drum sound which we got by accident.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>The drumming in that song is pretty great, Peter. So you didn't plan all that out?<br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> Most of the drum things were mistakes. They really were. We just recorded it in one or two takes and there was a bit where I played in the wrong place but the idea was I knew I would do it and I knew I wouldn't get it right but it didn't matter, that became the song. All the recording when you hear mistakes become part of the songs that you like become part of the things that you listen out for. You might think we didn't know what we were doing but it's still good. It just sticks out because they are not quite right or they are not what you expect.<br /><br /><b>David: </b>We had to find some balance on what is appealing because it's familiar and what's novel because it's slightly off.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, David, you play bass and Peter, you play drums? Are those the main instruments you play?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>David:</b> We don't see ourselves as instrumentalists in how important to what we do. I play mostly guitar and Pete plays mostly half piano and guitar.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> David, who is your favorite guitarist? Any influences?<br /><br /><b>David:</b> John Lennon. I love the guitar on "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay, so, how would you describe Field Music's music? Would you call it pop?<br /><br /><b>David: </b>We love pop music but we are a little bit obscure. We are not trying to make something that is obscure.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>You guys produce yourselves, right? Do you prefer doing that yourselves in your own studio?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>David: </b>We wouldn't be doing it if we weren't doing it that way. Certainly in the early days we couldn't afford to pay for studio time. We are so in the habit of wittling away at things and giving us time to experiment that we definitely couldn't afford to go in the studio because we might take five months making a record and say we are going to be in there from ten to eight every day and be like driving each other insane, but that might mean being there seven days a week and not being afraid of trying things and discarding things.<br /><br /><b>Peter: </b>Yeah. Coming away and thinking about it or trying something else or giving ourselves time to mix it an giving us time to master it. Or giving ourselves a slot where we get string players in or horn players in. I can't bare to think how we would do that if we were trying to buy studio time. Maybe if we did a thrashy rock record maybe we'll get a studio. Actually, I'd love to do a thrashy rock record so let's just do it at our place.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Why do you play all the instruments, fellas? I thought you had a bigger band.<br /><br /><b>David: </b>We lost our keyboard player and we lost our drummer. Drumming's the funny one because neither of us are particularly great drummers. But I think we are very particular about it. We grew up listening to certain records and certain things and we kind like the push and pull of drums. We just never played with another drummer the ay we would. It's arrogant really, but we have a way we want things to feel.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, Peter, I asked David who his favorite guitarist is so who are your favorite drummers?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> I love Ringo and I love John Bonham, and people in-between...<br /><br /><b>David: </b>We played with some great drummers. When we first started what became Field Music we had a four piece band. Me and Peter, our friend Andrew Moore on piano who we played with on and off since we were fourteen and fifteen and Tom English on drums. He's the drummer in Maximo Parks. Just about the time we were going to knuckle down and record the first album Maximo Parks started to become kind of huge and we kind to schedule a time where we can all record together it became really difficult. So, Tom only played two songs on the first album and then we were confronted by this problem: what were we going to do live. Was one of us going to play drums or not? Is that practical? Is that feasible? Who is going to play bass if I'm not going to be playing bass? But Andrew fixed that, he played duel style. He played all the bass parts in his left hand and all the piano parts with his right hand. It was exciting to see if you could see his fingers. Obviously you couldn't see that off the stage, it wasn't very exciting. Somehow we just tried to make a funny thing if we switched over... when it came to the point that Andy couldn't do the band regularly we had to decide what we were going to do about the piano and tried to find someone who could play with the force and feel like Andy did so Peter ended up playing some piano and some guitar. I think somethings have settled now. We found someone to play the piano parts and the fact that we switch around on guitar and drums on stage is a bit stupid and a bit funny and a bit impressive if you're into that sort of thing. So it's just part of the show now. We have to chose songs with a long outro so we can switch around.<br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> It's funny, the drumming ends up being important on record usually, maybe not on "Open Here," we played a lot more together on "Open Here" but on previous albums its been quite often the case that whoever had written the song, or the initial of the song, plays drums on it as well.<br /><br /><b>David:</b> So one of us has to learn how to play the drums in order to play live.<br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> Someone came up to me at the merch table last year and said to me, "I want to buy the record that you were playing drums on most." Well, you can do that, but what you have just see live might to be the best idea. It's just one of those things. I'm not sure that's because he preferred your singing, David. Either way, whatever CD he bought is probably the wrong one.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Did you two write songs together when you were kids?<br /><br /><b>David:</b> Depends what you classify as a song really, cause what's the pie doing in the sky? I mean...&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> "Pie in the Sky" was the first thing I remember coming up with together. I must of been five or six and you, David, must've been three or four. I think it was mainly one of mine.<br /><br /><b>David: </b>I don't know, as soon as we started playing music we were doing it together doing a band. There was very few times we did a band that one of us wasn't involved. Partially because there wasn't a lot of people to play bands with or who played music at school So, it's not like there's a huge pool if musicians. It's not that kind of place. We always had each other so we could always do something. We've never written songs together together. Not often. Its often we each come up with songs and then share them.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Do you come out of a musical household or something? Didn't one of you or a family member write songs for "Spitting Image"?<br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> No, maybe somewhere down the line.<br /><br /><b>David: </b>There was a Dave Brewls who was in a band called Kane Gang... also no relation. It's a fairly common name where we are from.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You two play music, anyone else in the family play music as well?<br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> We just fairly recently found out our mum played piano when she were a kid. We had an old riggedy piano that was in the garage. We has that to knock about. Mum and dad were into music, into records, so they had a collection. They used to go up to the record library. They really grew up with pop music I suppose. They would of been nine or ten when the Beatles happened.<br /><br /><b>David: </b>Around fifteen or sixteen when Woodstock was and having kids when they were getting into their twenties and ready to settle down with some great AOR. They kept pall the way to the late 80s pop even, We Wet Wet's "Pop In Souled Out." That had a couple of good tunes... maybe four.<br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> "Wishing I Was Lucky" was a good one.<br /><br /><b>David:</b> Yeah, but too much reverb.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I love Wet Wet Wet and that album. I have been trying to get them on the Phile.<br /><br /><b>David: </b>You could see they were trying to be a soul band when it was really impossible. It makes The Commitment's seem really authentic.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Who are your influences, fellas? I hear a little Talking Heads in your music, especially with the song "The Noisy Days Are Over" from your last album "Commontime." <br /><br /><b>David: </b>Definitely 10cc. Actually, I hadn't listened to 10cc in about twenty years. That was something that was in mum and dad's record collection. Talking Heads is not a strong influence on us. I do like Talking Heads but I don't seem them being a big influence. I'm probably influenced by the same things they're influenced by and some of the other bands that were around at the time. For instance, I was in a band called The Futureheads early, early on. I was the drummer and Baz massively into XTC, so I was influenced by being in the Futureheads really, so I think I have a bit of that from Barry really. Maybe the same with Talking Heads as well.<br /><br /><b>Peter: </b>Yeah, when you think of bands that are contemporary with those bands really. For me Television would be much more of an influence than Talking Heads. Even though I don't think that really comes out in our music. But there's certain things about how they use melodies or their guitars intertwined. early on I think that was a big thing for us. Then maybe the influence of the band like Fairport Convention. With XTC that is probably influenced by Wire. Not in the attitude of how they put a song together but probably more have more impact on me. But in terms of real influences, the things we keep going back to and taking from there's the Beatles and there's Led Zeppelin. That's it. And maybe around the time we finished the first album Prince became an influence more and more what we were doing. The Beach Boys actually... I don't listen to the Beach Boys anymore but when we were making our first album how they arranged the pop music, how it wasn't really for a band and have really prominent vocals I think that was what was probably a big influence.<br /><br /><b>David:</b> Another thing is that when we were in our early twenties I didn't really listen to any pop music as such. I've got into all the jazz reissuses I could get, all the Impulse back catalogue that started to come out again on CD. We spent tour student loans or whatever we had on these. All the pop music that we had like 13th Floor Elevators or early Randy Newman albums or Van Dyke Parks. I studied a lot of classical music but I really wasn't any good at it but I thankfully kept most of my notes and I'm influenced by that early 20th century classical music. I thought the idea of Field Music in a way for starters was supposed to be non-pop influences... how to put them into something which you can make come across like a band. Hopefully not to sound too pretentious, although it is a little bit pretentious. We out our influences out of pop music into pop music to make it kid of refreshing.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> Then five years down the line we discovered "Bad" by Michael Jackson... And all of that pop music that we were steeped in because that's the nature. We started to rediscover that. Making the first album we were skeptical in listening to rock music. We got a couple of years in and think we are still trying to play the guitar like Jimmy Page did. Or trying to play the drums like John Bonham. If we stopped listening to Led Zeppelin why did we stop denying that as an influence? The next thing is to make an album like "Bad" but with John Bonham playing drums.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I love the last song on "Commontime, "Stay Awake." It's very Hall and Oates sounding. What's the story behind that song?<br /><br /><b>David:</b> I wrote the lyrics when we were on a ferry coming back from Ireland. I can't remember what we were doing, but that's definitely when I was writing the lyrics. It must of been when my little boy was really, really small. I'm aware that when I get tired I can't be bothered to be nice. It's not that I'm not in the mood, I'm just too tired. I can't focus on smiling, or having a conversation, or anything like that. I think that sort of thing happens to a lot of couples when they have a very small child. It puts a strain when we are aware having more of those moments like I'm always grumpy. I really like being a dad but it's sort of hard to express that when you are tired and grouchy and bit fed up with myself and tired of getting up six times during the night and the morning begins at quarter to five.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I get the same way, David. So, whats this that Prince once tweeted he liked your music? That's pretty cool.<br /><br /><b>David: </b>It was about "The Noisy Days Are Over." There was one week when we were worried across the bow, then a week later he tweeted a link on an article I wrote on how much I love Prince, and from that moment we were safe. Maybe he just heard it and liked it and thought we nicked his style.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Peter:</b> Yeah, we'll never know, but it's nice to know he heard one of our songs and liked it enough to tweet it.<br /><br /><b>David:</b> Yeah, I often wonder if he heard the end bit where we copied "Parade" and thought we were cheeky.<br /><b><br /></b><b>Me:</b> That's so cool, though, guys. Do you have that tweet saved anywhere?<br /><br /><b>David:</b> I got the bit map file saved on a few computers at home. It's just strange though, that any of our music had sent time in his head, in what was his last few months. It's just odd.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I bet. So, do you guys live near each other?<br /><br /><b>David:</b> No. We live in two different cities... I live in Newcastle and Pete lives in Sunderland still.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Thanks so much for being on the Phile, fellas. Please come back when your next project comes out. Mention your website and goo luck with the new album.<br /><br /><b>Peter: </b>Great, it's been a pleasure. <a href="http://field-music.co.uk/">Field-music.co.uk</a>.<br /><br /><b>David: </b>Cheers. Bye, Jason.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zyj0NWzq4Mk/WmoPzUCrsnI/AAAAAAAAx8I/yvZ3O3H8GBYwtY9Pjo0nUAeIR3jcEmp5QCLcBGAs/s1600/23231370_10155857847128622_2058476955572485274_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zyj0NWzq4Mk/WmoPzUCrsnI/AAAAAAAAx8I/yvZ3O3H8GBYwtY9Pjo0nUAeIR3jcEmp5QCLcBGAs/s320/23231370_10155857847128622_2058476955572485274_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />That about does it foe this entry of the Phile. Thanks to my guests Jeff Trelewicz and David and Peter from Field Music. Oh, this is cool... the Phile will be back on Sunday with Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites from The Lumineers. Ho hey. Haha. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DIh1-VmkyR4/WmoR0NNKFRI/AAAAAAAAx8U/YpOANjRe_Rg1LuNYkcHCbSKUkqy_2dcDwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_94a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="516" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DIh1-VmkyR4/WmoR0NNKFRI/AAAAAAAAx8U/YpOANjRe_Rg1LuNYkcHCbSKUkqy_2dcDwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_94a.jpeg" width="286" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-21478965993288650642018-01-22T12:17:00.000-05:002018-01-22T12:18:05.393-05:00Pheaturing Linda S. Godfrey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hroo1DVD0PY/WmX6WkUKsjI/AAAAAAAAxzA/aC_yhvmMzMAixXeGA7ReLvuRwEfV25ryACLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hroo1DVD0PY/WmX6WkUKsjI/AAAAAAAAxzA/aC_yhvmMzMAixXeGA7ReLvuRwEfV25ryACLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hey</b> there, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. How are you? The city of Philadelphia is a shit show right now. Because lighting fires in the middle of the streets, standing on top of moving cars driving through the city, and climbing up street lights is for amateurs, one Eagles fan brought out a dune buggy and drove it up the famous Rocky steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Eagles fans have outdone themselves once again. The NFC Championship sported two very important fans, Millie Wall and Phil Basser, both a remarkable 99-years-old, each hoping to see their team win the Super Bowl before their time was up. Though Grandma Millie will be at the Super Bowl, she won’t be rooting on her beloved Vikings thanks to Philly’s win over Minnesota Sunday night. Eagles fans stooped as low as to take shots at her during their post game celebration in the streets of Philadelphia.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UVgbXuJQWOc/WmX7pczGjvI/AAAAAAAAxzU/otHU0JuFjkkvUzRFAvSBx5R0yYaIk6rvQCLcBGAs/s1600/DUHbArKWkAI8TDP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UVgbXuJQWOc/WmX7pczGjvI/AAAAAAAAxzU/otHU0JuFjkkvUzRFAvSBx5R0yYaIk6rvQCLcBGAs/s400/DUHbArKWkAI8TDP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Jeez, people.<br /><b>I </b>didn't mention this yesterday, but on Friday, the U.S. government entered a shutdown and because no one actually knows what that means, the White House sought to reassure the public of what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean President Trump stops working. See? He's working...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TWb4dgUZl9c/WmX8hE0W40I/AAAAAAAAxzc/BgtU7AkHddctjH2z4VhQSMmztdesg5jAwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-22%2Bat%2B9.59.18%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="501" height="361" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TWb4dgUZl9c/WmX8hE0W40I/AAAAAAAAxzc/BgtU7AkHddctjH2z4VhQSMmztdesg5jAwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-22%2Bat%2B9.59.18%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />The White House quickly released a photo series showing the president working, in the White House, to reiterate, definitely working. Holding phones, walking around, chatting with dudes. WORKING. The president is working. The idea began to float around that the photos of Trump working were slightly less than candid. That his staff had actually set up the pictures of Trump at a desk, doing president stuff, just so people get it in their minds that the Trump workday never stops, even when the government stops the work of all "nonessential" government employees. But if you think about it, a "photo op" is work, is it not? You have to set up the phone, frame the shot, position yourself so you're perfectly shadowed by the portrait of Andrew Jackson... you think that comes naturally? Nuh-uh. That's work. Checkmate, Democrats. A photo op is still work. Think of what’s missing here. No notes, no paper, no pen, no files, no laptop or iPad. He’s not even talking. I’m not sure he’s even on a real call. He’s not even a little serious about ending the government shutdown.<br /><b>Kristen</b> Bell was the host of last night's SAG Awards, which marked the first time the awards show had an actual host. Speaking to the audience, Bell pointed out that she was the both the first person and the first lady host. Making a joke about being "First Lady," Bell said she was going to use her platform to take on cyberbullying, since she hasn't seen "any progress made on that initiative yet." Although she didn't mention her by name, Bell was alluding to FLOTUS Melania Trump's promise to make ending cyberbullying her focus while her husband was in office. The irony, of course, is that Trump's own husband, President Donald Trump, is a notorious bully on Twitter, making up nicknames for people and attacking anyone who disagrees with him or his political positions. Bell joked that she was looking at Veep's Tony Hale, because he was "savage" on Twitter. On a more serious note, Bell told the audience, "We are living in a watershed moment and as we march forward with active momentum and open ears, let's make sure we are leading the charge with empathy and diligence. Because fear and anger never win the race."<br /><b>During</b> a speech at the Women's March in L.A. on Saturday, actress Scarlett Johansson called out James Franco for giving lip service to Time's Up despite his sexual misconduct allegations. She kicked off her fiery speech with a few pointed references that were suspected to be about Franco's hypocritical support of the #MeToo movement's legal defense fund for sexual harassment survivors. Later, a rep for Johansson confirmed to the "L.A. Times" that the comments were indeed about <i>The Disaster Artist</i> actor. "How could a person publicly stand by an organization that helps to provide support for victims of sexual assault while privately preying on people who have no power?” Johansson boomed at the beginning of her speech. She then poignantly added, "I want my pin back, by the way." After calling out Franco and other actors hiding behind the false guise of allyship, Johansson went on to reflect on the conditioning that manipulates women into staying submissive and silent during times of mistreatment. “I had many relationships both personal and professional where the power dynamic was so off that I had to create a narrative that I was the cool girl who could hang in and hang out, and that sometimes meant compromising what felt right for me," Johansson shared. The 33-year-old actress went on to conclude her speech by resolving to draw better boundaries for herself, and not apologize for making healthy emotional decisions for life. "No more pandering. No more feeling guilty about hurting someone’s feelings when something doesn’t feel right for me,” she said. “I have made a promise to myself to be responsible to myself, that in order to trust my instincts I must first respect them," Johansson promised. Despite being called out across social media, and by Johansson, Colbert, and others, Franco has publicly denied the sexual misconduct allegations.<br /><b>TMZ</b> is reporting that real life Manic Pixie Dream Girl Zooey Deschanel has just filed legal documents saying she doesn't have time to go to court, because "she is a well-known actress with an extremely extensive and complicated work schedule." Deschanel was sued back in 2013 by an equestrian who claims that she leased a horse from her, only to overwork it to the point that it became "lame." The horse owner is suing for vet bills and other damages. The case has been hanging around for years, but now is time for a "mandatory settlement conference," which means that both sides need to come up with agreement in order to avoid trial. Deschanel's lawyers filed a statement that said, "Court? Ain't nobody got time for that," in what I'm assuming were those exact words. Legal trouble with humans are difficult enough, but with horses? NEIGH. <br /><b>Ever</b> see an inanimate object and you think you are seeing a face? Happens to me all the time. Check it out...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zCKISSWjY9I/WmYFYLTt1II/AAAAAAAAxz4/S56n4MnxFJ8BqbYDDEi-KmMWybFKy78CwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_909.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="319" height="257" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zCKISSWjY9I/WmYFYLTt1II/AAAAAAAAxz4/S56n4MnxFJ8BqbYDDEi-KmMWybFKy78CwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_909.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />He looks so happy! So, people think Twitter is brand new... it's not... it's been around for a long time. Take a look at this old Twitter ad...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B4weAiiz9Ms/WmYHAal4YDI/AAAAAAAAx0E/CypfhHgY-K8SRRAMoHGYzrFnrFsk-Bv1ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="735" data-original-width="550" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B4weAiiz9Ms/WmYHAal4YDI/AAAAAAAAx0E/CypfhHgY-K8SRRAMoHGYzrFnrFsk-Bv1ACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2996.JPG" width="298" /></a></div><br />Told you. Man, on Yelp Trump's Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. is sure getting some bad reviews...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7mldv5HasFI/WmYHbi5SOvI/AAAAAAAAx0I/TdrR2DPrM0kCMo8Kvqqi5RNbgNJ8gjfEwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8bf.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="199" data-original-width="700" height="112" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7mldv5HasFI/WmYHbi5SOvI/AAAAAAAAx0I/TdrR2DPrM0kCMo8Kvqqi5RNbgNJ8gjfEwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8bf.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Speaking of Trump, some women at the Women's March in Washington D.c. this past weekend had some very creative signs...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r5F2J-tQ6fo/WmYIqCB6Q1I/AAAAAAAAx0Y/VWHuib3GSykgro036teSvlqd7mRhDnHbwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8e9.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="740" height="293" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r5F2J-tQ6fo/WmYIqCB6Q1I/AAAAAAAAx0Y/VWHuib3GSykgro036teSvlqd7mRhDnHbwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8e9.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. Hey, there's a new flavor of Tide Pods that just came out...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aH-foiaXOBE/WmYJVFg75GI/AAAAAAAAx0g/gBsO4UVv-qwWJqVAXIFMf6jZGwbXvsj5wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aH-foiaXOBE/WmYJVFg75GI/AAAAAAAAx0g/gBsO4UVv-qwWJqVAXIFMf6jZGwbXvsj5wCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3178.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />I'm allergic to apples so I won't be trying it. Well, the Super Bowl is set, kids...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PuA8DWznDA0/WmYJu99AZ_I/AAAAAAAAx0k/Q4-xgLQO86UcedtaZ6cb6UejBTKSHB4xwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_90a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="960" height="171" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PuA8DWznDA0/WmYJu99AZ_I/AAAAAAAAx0k/Q4-xgLQO86UcedtaZ6cb6UejBTKSHB4xwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_90a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. The Vikings now have a new logo for next season...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y_r0lf84ppI/WmYJ2rMWIgI/AAAAAAAAx0s/y3xj5Th1ZI0OEF3bnDCGtNjbdc93Yl5kACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_908.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="376" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y_r0lf84ppI/WmYJ2rMWIgI/AAAAAAAAx0s/y3xj5Th1ZI0OEF3bnDCGtNjbdc93Yl5kACLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_908.jpeg" width="286" /></a></div><br />Awe. Poor Vikings. I really wanted them to win. So, this year is the Phile's 12 anniversary and I have been showing you how some celebrities have changed from then to now. For example in 2006 it was it's Britney, bitch...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C6LbsOMVL6A/WmYLWjbKfAI/AAAAAAAAx08/yukTTLCHKtEp-Oj5maT7SbghKEx_fKnLgCLcBGAs/s1600/shutterstock479962936-djDM92.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C6LbsOMVL6A/WmYLWjbKfAI/AAAAAAAAx08/yukTTLCHKtEp-Oj5maT7SbghKEx_fKnLgCLcBGAs/s320/shutterstock479962936-djDM92.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />And now in 2018...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PrlHKp-nYE8/WmYLcW-gGcI/AAAAAAAAx1A/LQp-28PaERoWPMQyUxg3mzKj9HTZIZjnwCLcBGAs/s1600/britney-spears-zYK4qB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PrlHKp-nYE8/WmYLcW-gGcI/AAAAAAAAx1A/LQp-28PaERoWPMQyUxg3mzKj9HTZIZjnwCLcBGAs/s320/britney-spears-zYK4qB.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Still Britney, bitch. Hahaha.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-339Z28aIqpg/WmYMHkdKndI/AAAAAAAAx1M/BQ37DZ9J8cwrjtaatUb6ldNyDIdjJU9oQCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-339Z28aIqpg/WmYMHkdKndI/AAAAAAAAx1M/BQ37DZ9J8cwrjtaatUb6ldNyDIdjJU9oQCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4pTGRHXXH1M/WmYNzNPhKtI/AAAAAAAAx1Y/6knq9GcjNZcdRDKbnL3Vp1lj-4-1AO56ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="549" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4pTGRHXXH1M/WmYNzNPhKtI/AAAAAAAAx1Y/6knq9GcjNZcdRDKbnL3Vp1lj-4-1AO56ACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3048.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />If you spot the Mindphuck let me know.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gKDYn5TZdNA/WmYRxcSGt1I/AAAAAAAAx1k/m9aYFr9hpRkX96tNUkx2NY7v-O2jt5H1ACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="583" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gKDYn5TZdNA/WmYRxcSGt1I/AAAAAAAAx1k/m9aYFr9hpRkX96tNUkx2NY7v-O2jt5H1ACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div><br />A temporary government shutdown started at midnight on Friday, and it took less than seven hours for Trump to blame Democrats. The shutdown took place after Senate Republicans failed to gather enough votes to put a 30-day funding bill in motion. The final vote on the procedural motion toppled at 50-49, but 60 votes were needed to advance the bill. While Republicans are the majority, five GOP Senators including Mitch McConell voted against the bill. Nonetheless, the president's blaming gaze has been firmly set up on Democrats, many of whom said they wouldn't vote for a bipartisan bill unless it fixed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (which Trump decided to end). Early in the morning on Saturday, Trump tweeted about how Democrats prioritize "illegal immigrants" over the military. He also claimed there need to be more seated Republicans, which is a bold assertion since the GOP currently holds the overall majority. Noting that it's the year anniversary of his presidency, Trump also claimed the government shutdown is a present from the Democrats. As with most of our present political realities, Trump has tweeted his feelings about government shutdowns in the past. Back when there was a shutdown during the Obama administration, Trump claimed it was good for the economy. Apparently, Trump is not alone in his shutdown feelings, the Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney said the shutdown was "kind of cool." Government shutdowns tend to last a few days or weeks tops. In this case, it will be whichever amount of time is needed for 60 Senators to agree on a budget plan.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kX0t4PvWq1s/WmYSkaLTWlI/AAAAAAAAx1s/arcgOQ8hJEMxVQtoCn4aAN99pcQyLsIMACLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="400" height="187" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kX0t4PvWq1s/WmYSkaLTWlI/AAAAAAAAx1s/arcgOQ8hJEMxVQtoCn4aAN99pcQyLsIMACLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PcH2N-V_6Ms/WmYTG_VDNGI/AAAAAAAAx10/JfRgQ4uN9tsDfQYLWH8qDFTVt66QyGpKwCLcBGAs/s1600/53-XtPOhr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="600" height="262" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PcH2N-V_6Ms/WmYTG_VDNGI/AAAAAAAAx10/JfRgQ4uN9tsDfQYLWH8qDFTVt66QyGpKwCLcBGAs/s400/53-XtPOhr.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today is the second anniversary of a friend of the Phile being in the hospital and almost dying. He wanted to come on the Phile and say something about it. He's a singer, patriot and renaissance man. You know what time it is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dzJwB6mpUuQ/WmYaGlVYAxI/AAAAAAAAx2w/auLA3a8T2LAIyFmfx5zKIIDcseFPE7TawCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8ff.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1566" data-original-width="1400" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dzJwB6mpUuQ/WmYaGlVYAxI/AAAAAAAAx2w/auLA3a8T2LAIyFmfx5zKIIDcseFPE7TawCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8ff.jpeg" width="357" /></a></div><br />Good afternoon, phuckerz. Someone just reminded me it was 2 years ago today, that I was rushed to the hospital... I would then spend 8 days in a coma... wake up to find out I was seconds away from being given last rights... I spent just over a month in the hospital and would have probably died if it wasn’t for my brilliant cousin Melissa steering doctors in the right direction. Feels good to be alive. The list of those who came to visit me is far too numerous to mention here. You know who you are...<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XtQt1SZDIsU/WmYT50OdyiI/AAAAAAAAx2A/FWgX0tBgvPsaLnNePp2OcygoQkZs4Y5JwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="318" height="264" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XtQt1SZDIsU/WmYT50OdyiI/AAAAAAAAx2A/FWgX0tBgvPsaLnNePp2OcygoQkZs4Y5JwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Once upon a time there was a non-conforming sparrow who decided not to fly south for the winter. However, soon the weather turned so cold that he reluctantly decided to fly south. In a short time ice began to form on his wings and he fell to Earth in a barnyard, nearly frozen solid. A cow passed by where he had fallen, and crapped on the little sparrow. The sparrow thought it was the end, but the manure warmed him and defrosted his wings! Warm and happy, able to breath, he started to sing. Just then a large cat came by, and hearing the chirping he investigated the sounds. The cat cleared away the manure, found the chirping bird, and promptly ate him. The moral of the story... Everyone who craps on you is not necessarily your enemy. Everyone who gets you out of crap is not necessarily your friend. And if you're warm and happy in a pile of crap, you might just want to keep your mouth shut.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_083iYWfZEw/WmYUuIw8VJI/AAAAAAAAx2I/tw8bYpKm1V80J_gt2wEuHU7pQ-50QZJgwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_38.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="400" height="376" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_083iYWfZEw/WmYUuIw8VJI/AAAAAAAAx2I/tw8bYpKm1V80J_gt2wEuHU7pQ-50QZJgwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_38.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today's guest is the author of "Monsters Among Us: An Exploration of Otherworldly Bigfoots, Wolfmen, Portals, Phantoms, and Odd Phenomena," the 73rd book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club. Man, that's a long name for a book. Please welcome to the Phile...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--IiNZMdsQYI/WmYVSdC4ZCI/AAAAAAAAx2Q/CWQGG4vgGnQfp1PODD1uFAlmUqvmUBi6ACLcBGAs/s1600/91VCWvVMisL._UX250_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="250" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--IiNZMdsQYI/WmYVSdC4ZCI/AAAAAAAAx2Q/CWQGG4vgGnQfp1PODD1uFAlmUqvmUBi6ACLcBGAs/s400/91VCWvVMisL._UX250_.jpg" width="341" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hello, Linda, welcome to the Phile. How are you doing?<br /><br /><b>Linda:</b> I'm so glad to be here, thank you.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay, your book "Monsters Among Us..." is the 73rd book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club. You wrote a lot of books on this subject, so what's new with this book? What inspired you to write it?<br /><br /><b>Linda: </b>Well, I've been collecting these type of stories from people, the witnesses for 24 years, and over the past couple of years I realized there seem to be a larger percentage where they just couldn't be put off where they could be misrepresented as natural animals. They were connecting to them as UFO's, strange life, just odd psychic phenomena. So, I decided to put a book together where we really looked at the different creature sightings and possible anaglmolous phenomena with them.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What do you think people are gonna think when they read this book, Linda?<br /><br /><b>Linda:</b> Well, I think people will be surprised at the contents of this book.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>How did you get into this line of work? It's not exactly what most authors are doing.<br /><br /><b>Linda:</b> No, that's right, and I never really even intended it. I was working as a newspaper reporter and just gotten that job as I wanted to be an editorial cartoonist. They made me a reporter and one of the first stories that came out came from hearing people from my own hometown of Elkhorn, Wisconsin saying they were seeing this thing on this country road called Bray Road that looked like a werewolf. I laughed but then I was working with an animal control officer on an expose he was working on puppy mills, and I asked him about it and he said, "Oh, yeah, people have been calling me." To my amazement he pulled a manila folder out from his desk and the file folder was marked "werewolf." The inside it was full of notes from people and contact information from people who have been calling him saying they saw this thing, they didn't know what it was but it looked like a werewolf if there was such a thing. Now, if you have a county official with a manila folder marked "werewolf," then that's news.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Your life is like a real life "X-Files" episode. So, I take it you ran with this story, am I right?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Linda:</b> Exactly. I ran the story and dubbed it "The Beast of Bray Road" It went national much to our shock and surprise. This was back in '91 or '92 and it had never stopped.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Yeah, here we are in 2018, and you are still investigating this. I take it you believe in these accounts. Why do you believe? They could be people's imaginations.<br /><br /><b>Linda: </b>The thing is, at that time, and it still drives me, that people keep seeing these things. They have fairly consistent characteristics and the people, just like those very first witnesses, where I go talk to them, or interview them, they don't seem like they're making things up, trying to hoax, or don't have some sort of challenge mentally or anything like that. They seem like normal sober people who have been terrified or at the very least just sort of traumatized and upset about that what they saw. Most of them say, "I don't want to be known, I don't anything for this. I just want to tell this to someone who won't think I'm crazy." After so many years of that there cannot be that many people faking it.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>How often do you hear from people that say they saw something, Linda?<br /><br /><b>Linda: </b>After all these years about one or two people a week. So you can do the math. That's a lot. Plus I had some of my own experiences and found tracks and evidence like that.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> In the book you tell a story of a human beast transformation. You struggled not knowing if you wanted to include the story, am I right? Why is that?<br /><br /><b>Linda: </b>Well, I really tried to be sensitive, not only to the people who report their things to me. I give them a choice if they want to remain anonymous or have their names, but I'm also sensitive to my readers and to what sort of things I really should have in my books. This was such an unusual situation, very unlike anything I ever had reported to me that I just wanted to be sure that it belonged in the book.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, tell everyone what the story is, Linda.<br /><br /><b>Linda: </b>This occurred a decade or so ago in a very small church in Illinois. A mother, father and two kids were sitting in the front row. It was a u-shaped pew directly facing the lady across from them in the front row. The sermon concluded and the minister began to step down and just as he did that lady stood up, kind of cripped her neck a little bit and let out this unearthly howl scream and almost instantaneously became this werewolf looking thing. She was covered in fur with ears and fangs but the only difference was she had hoofs instead of paws which I admit is really unusual.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, everybody in the church saw this happen and no one really talked about it?<br /><br /><b>Linda:</b> <i>Some</i> of the people saw it and nobody wanted to talk about it later but several of the Elders who were up at the front of the church kind of jumped on her, flattened her down onto the pew and she very quickly returned back to her normal appearance then was taken out. With something like I like to be really sure and I have interviewed the people face to face several times, they were just salt to the earth type middle aged couple. There was absolute no reason for them to be making this up. They gave me a lot of names and places and things like that and I checked everything out and everything was exactly as they had said. So, as far as I cold tell it was a true experience. Its hard to say exactly what the creature was but since it had the church setting and seemed to be objecting the bible being there I think a lot of people would call that a demonic type manifestation.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Ummm... you been had these people sign a formal statement that what they saw was factual which I think is crazy. Honestly, I think the whole story is bullshit. You actually think that wolf men, or wolf ladies exist? Let's face it, I'm probably not the only one who waves the bullshit flag on this.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Linda:</b> Well, Jason, as I said, people keep seeing them. I want to believe that most of the sightings of the upright canines as I prefer to call them, are probably the same thing as what the couples saw in the church. Because most of the ones that are seen are completely canine. The only difference is that they are running on their hind legs. They seem to have long paws which could be some sort of normal mutation. There's nothing supernatural about mammal running on its hind legs, they could all do it if they are sufficient motivated, trained, or sometimes because they have injured fore limbs and can't run on all fours anymore. But the things people see do have this uncanny sense about them. They will be driving along and something that looks like a werewolf will jump out of a ditch, run out in front of their car. Typically it will stop, looks at them in the eye, and they get this feeling that it could get them if it wanted to or that it was superior to them in some way. Then it just dashes off into the brush. <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Linda, can any of these sightings be contributed to mental illness? I think people are lying or get confused.<br /><br /><b>Linda: </b>There's an actual psychosis where people look into the mirror at themselves and actually see what they see is a werwolf, but if somebody looks at them they just see the human being, There have been instances of people that have this psychosis who run and jump naked onto the hoods of cars while they are driving but all the people see in the report is a naked person in those cases. There are also people who have a thing called generalized hypertrichosis, where their whole body, faces, everything is covered with a thick layer of fur. It's fairly rare, there's a large family in Mexico, a lot of them have the surname of Gomez, and many of them are infiltrated with a circus. These people are still completely human and if you look at them you know they are human. These explanations can't really explain why some many of these dog like creatures, which are obviously canine because they are running on their toe pads, they have very different structured bodies and limbs. They have the tall pointed ears on their heads and long fangs. They are seeing something different.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, do you think a lot of people are just hoaxers? What if they were just people dressed up in a werewolf costume? People are assholes and would do that, Linda.<br /><br /><b>Linda: </b>They are hoaxers out there, I'm always very mindful of those and I think they need to be reported and admitted so that people can be aware that it might be a hoaxer or someone in a mask, and then ask themselves to kind of distinguish. People will say to me something like, "I looked at it really closely and it wasn't a mask because I could see the tongue inside its mouth and the fangs were working and the eyes were glowing back light." They are always quite sure it's not a person in a suit.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, what happened to you when you were in Michigan?<br /><br /><b>Linda:</b> In Michigan I was on sight with a History Channel cameraman and we were there with a couple of witnesses on this very remote gravel road. There were nothing around but foliage and it was three in the morning and probably 95 degrees, and fixing to rain and something kept running around. We could hear footsteps, we could see yellow eyes in the bushes, and all of a sudden something ran across the road just outside the arc of spotlight that was set up on the road. Of course the cameraman was facing the other way but I saw it, a part of it. What I saw was the spine of something, a vertical spine, covered in gray fur, and as it passed in front of a reflective road sign it was seven feet tall and blocked the road sign out. That was exactly what the witnesses had reported. So, I think I saw the hairy spine of a man wolf, or dog man, whatever you want to call it.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Wow. Okay, and in Wisconsin you saw Bigfoot? What the hell, Linda?<br /><br /><b>Linda: </b>Yes. I was in the Kettle Moraine State Forest, and for some reason that day I was out walking by myself and I thought just for fun I'm going to bang on this tree and see if anything is down in the kettles. These kettles are scooped out deep depressions left from the last glacier. Most people don't go in them as they are full of brambles and are treacherous. I banged on the tree and to my surprise I got a couple knocks back from a very close by tree, about 150 feet away. I tried it again, got more knocks, there was something huge rustling around, staying behind the foliage and I couldn't see it. It probably was about forty feet up in the tree and I gave one more knock and it was answered by a 35 foot long, 8 inch in diameter, fresh new living oak tree branch. It was twisted off, first of all it was twisted in one motion, and in the next motion it was torn free from the tree and dropped to the floor of the kettle. This was a nice summer's evening, we hadn't had any storms, I could see the wood was new. I went down later with some friends and checked it out. There was no woodpecker holes, saw marks or anything, there was no reason for that branch to twist itself. Oak is one of the strongest wood then to be thrown to the floor. It had rub marks like something that had huge hands had rubbed the bark away. I still have one of those pieces of bark. We also smelt it, my friends and I, definitely and one of my friends daughter saw it running behind some foliage in the next kettle. It had removed itself from our presence and then it growled at us. It was the kind of growl that you knew this thing was so huge we felt like this tiny mammal that was about to be eaten, and we just said okay, it was time to leave. I think it was up in that tree which was next to a huge deer path, and it was waiting for supper to pounce upon and I spoilt its dinner.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> It's a good thing it didn't eat you. I have pics of this to show from your blog.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ULObo9hhgw4/WmYYpGlwprI/AAAAAAAAx2c/F2iUJYk6_7Uyjh5Zi2_Sd7gskm9haj5hgCLcBGAs/s1600/treefall-031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ULObo9hhgw4/WmYYpGlwprI/AAAAAAAAx2c/F2iUJYk6_7Uyjh5Zi2_Sd7gskm9haj5hgCLcBGAs/s1600/treefall-031.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>Linda:</b> You can read the whole story and see more pics on my website under "July 2012."<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Were you really scared, Linda?<br /><br /><b>Linda:</b> I was terrified and couldn't sleep that night. I knew exactly what it was, I had no doubt in my mind, especially after my friends daughter saw it and I have seen some around there since and have witnesses in my neighborhood as well.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Linda, your life is a lot more exciting than mine. Thanks so much for being on the Phile. I hope I wasn't as ass and I hope you'll come back again soon when your next book comes out. Mention your website and good luck out there.<br /><br /><b>Linda:</b> Thanks, Jason, and thanks to your readers. <a href="http://lindagodfrey.com/">Lindagodfrey.com</a>. This was fun.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I'm glad. Thanks, Linda.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hVguAD3ckek/WmYZKgok0yI/AAAAAAAAx2k/SpVuDKq8ZuwXTBFCsbiY5Y5nJ8BxXpitwCLcBGAs/s1600/51VAGhHprzL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hVguAD3ckek/WmYZKgok0yI/AAAAAAAAx2k/SpVuDKq8ZuwXTBFCsbiY5Y5nJ8BxXpitwCLcBGAs/s400/51VAGhHprzL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />Well, that does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to my guests Laird Jim and Linda S. Godfrey. What a crazy interview. I don't really believe any of those stories but it is a good book. The Phile will be back on Thursday with Field Music. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0wrY68BpmqA/WmYcX0jYReI/AAAAAAAAx28/wLqX3Pt8evY2f6rQ1NpQ41T-MEdcUtPCACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_91a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="484" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0wrY68BpmqA/WmYcX0jYReI/AAAAAAAAx28/wLqX3Pt8evY2f6rQ1NpQ41T-MEdcUtPCACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_91a.jpeg" width="308" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i><br /><br /><br />Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-1603716925810859212018-01-21T13:27:00.001-05:002018-01-21T13:27:49.516-05:00Pheaturing Taylor Mac<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BQiUETxWWXc/WmS8y9XlS7I/AAAAAAAAxuY/n9pyB94irm4vgG0CMtvzt5NAa9B0ZGPpQCLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BQiUETxWWXc/WmS8y9XlS7I/AAAAAAAAxuY/n9pyB94irm4vgG0CMtvzt5NAa9B0ZGPpQCLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Good</b> morning, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Sunday. How are you? Great news for everyone wondering what President Donald Trump's precise kinks are! His on-the-record mistress, Stephanie "Stormy Daniels" Clifford spilled the beans to "InTouch" in 2011 and the details are coming out whether you like it not! Now <a href="http://motherjones.com/">Motherjones.com</a> has acquired an email from 2009 between Stormy and political operatives when she was mulling a senate run in Louisiana (seriously). Stormy was serious enough about her potential candidacy that she went on a listening tour throughout the state, and was talking to political operatives about potential donors. In an email from May 8th, 2009, an operative advising Daniels scrolled through her cell phone to see which names she has. The email noted that "potential donors included Steve Hirsch, the founder of an adult entertainment company; Theresa Flynt, the daughter of "Hustler"’s Larry Flynt; Frazier Boyd, the owner of a strip club chain; and Jenna Jameson, the so-called 'Queen of Porn.' Also on the list: Donald Trump." "Donald Trump? In her cell phone?" Democratic operative Andrea Dubé asked. "Yep," the other consultant replied. "She says one time he made her sit with him for three hours watching Shark Week. Another time he had her spank him with a 'Forbes magazine.'" Mother Jones has screenshots of the emails (RECEIPTS!) and confirmed with the participants that they're legit. Not just any "Forbes" magazine: one with his daughter on the cover (oh, and Don Jr., too). Oh, and the Shark Week is interesting, too. Writer Virginia Heffernan notes that this alleged episode takes as ONE STEP CLOSER TO THE PEE TAPE. One more time... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Mother Jones called the White House for a comment. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded, "Would refer you back to comments given during the campaign on this. We have nothing new to add," Sarah Huckabee Sanders replied.<br /><b>A </b>Montreal man proved himself as the best ice sculptor on his block when cops were tricked by his snow car and thought it was an actual vehicle. According to a report from CBS Local, Simon Laprise sculpted an impressive model of a Delorean (ala <i>Back to the Future</i>) in the middle of snow removal zone, and the rendition was realistic enough to fool officers. The piece of icy art work was detailed enough that upon seeing it, an officer called for a second patrol car to check the Delorean. It took a few solid moments of inspection before the police were able to confirm that it was in fact a pile of snow. After having a laugh, the officers left Laprise a fake parking ticket that read, "You made our night hahahahaha.” Check it out...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cjr9chaHcAA/WmTAPOcECEI/AAAAAAAAxuk/bMlHJT8htcohGExz72pte4ZxYCa0YxZtACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-21%2Bat%2B11.30.05%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="469" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cjr9chaHcAA/WmTAPOcECEI/AAAAAAAAxuk/bMlHJT8htcohGExz72pte4ZxYCa0YxZtACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-21%2Bat%2B11.30.05%2BAM.png" width="398" /></a></div><br />The beautiful prank was sadly demolished by sanitation workers the following morning, but the documentation of the Delorean will live on.<br /><b>While</b> shooting footage of an anti-fracking protest for a documentary on climate change entitled, “The Way We Live,” cinematographer Tom Jefferson was the target of an ugly, racist tirade. John Pisone, the employee of a land management company, came to the protest to confront the “lazy hippies” he saw peacefully assembled. Soon his vitriol was turned on Jefferson who quietly kept his camera rolling while being verbally assaulted. Pisone called him a “chimp” and a “fucking nigger” and referred to his dreadlocks as a “mop on his head.” “I felt it was necessary to document what he was doing and what he was saying so that people can see that there are people out there like this,” Jefferson told AJ+. “There’s a whole underbelly of society who thinks this way but aren’t emboldened enough to come out and say it,” Jefferson says. His calm, journalistic approach to the situation is admirable given the ugly insults and dehumanizing language used by Pisone. After the video surfaced online, Pisone was fired. His employer left this message on Facebook, “Today, we were disgusted to learn that one of MMC’s former employees used racial slurs and made racially charged comments during a peaceful protest in Mars, Pennsylvania, outside of work hours at a location with which we have no affiliation. We are sorry that this incident occurred. Whether at work or not, we do not condone hate speech - EVER. Inclusion and diversity are among MMC’s core values.” Pisone apologized to Jefferson during a television interview with WPXI 11 News, calling what he said “stupid” and saying he was “angry,” while still believing himself to be a racist. “I wouldn’t say I’m completely racist,” Pisone says. “I exploded and I went to what I thought would cut the deepest, and that was very stupid of me.” Pisone’s rant started because he was angry with anti-fracking protestors because the industry was bringing jobs to the area. “I went racial on him, him being black,” Pisone said. “I thought this was going to cut deep. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.”<br /><b>Losing</b> someone close to you is heart-wrenching. But every so often, the person you've lost did something special for you before dying that you don't find until much later, and it makes you happy to be reminded of them. This story is a perfect, hilarious example of that. Firefighter Antonia Nicol, who goes by @Flaminhaystack on Twitter, sent out a tweet explaining that before her mother died, she (the mom) made sure to tell her husband to keep watering the plants in the bathroom for her. He did so dutifully, only to find out years later… they were plastic.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vuf7MjLvtek/WmTCeRxi3GI/AAAAAAAAxuw/7PRu3nqcfS0UUxFYzJJQXDi2oNkmqZLGACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-21%2Bat%2B11.39.59%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="496" height="187" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vuf7MjLvtek/WmTCeRxi3GI/AAAAAAAAxuw/7PRu3nqcfS0UUxFYzJJQXDi2oNkmqZLGACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-21%2Bat%2B11.39.59%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />How funny and sweet that Antonia's mom did that, knowing that when he finally found out, he'd just have to laugh. In a way, it's like his wife was there all along, giggling. The tweet quickly went viral, with over 40,000 retweets and 134,000 likes. And apparently Antonia's dad was so into the story getting big on Twitter that he went ahead and recreated the scene. If you don't know whether to laugh or cry, go ahead and do both. I did.<br /><b>A</b> "men's rights activist" who made a fan edit of <i>Star Wars: The Last Jedi</i> that removes all the women from the film is getting a lot of attention from the movie's stars... just not the kind of attention he wanted. It all started when writer and critic Priscilla Page tweeted this screenshot from a Pedestrian article entitled "MRAs Make 46-Minute Cut Of <i>The Last Jedi</i> That Edits Out All The Women." The recut, entitled "The Last Jedi: De-Feminized Fanedit," trims the 2½-hour film down to just 46 minutes. The edit was uploaded to The Pirate Bay last week, and is described by the creator as "basically <i>The Last Jedi</i> minus Girlz Powah and other silly stuff." Eventually, Rian Johnson, the film’s writer and director, caught wind of Page's tweet. He responded accordingly...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mKvtug-TVDQ/WmTElzZwn-I/AAAAAAAAxu8/xrkXlPlvYZMlCH8Gkd-Nyt4Sqrg3YQoNwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-21%2Bat%2B11.49.09%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="501" height="191" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mKvtug-TVDQ/WmTElzZwn-I/AAAAAAAAxu8/xrkXlPlvYZMlCH8Gkd-Nyt4Sqrg3YQoNwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-21%2Bat%2B11.49.09%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Then Mark Hamill chimed in. You know you messed up when you get trolled by Luke freaking Skywalker.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5LgTtIwLuWY/WmTEyBtGRuI/AAAAAAAAxvA/3iEq94hvtN0ShHDRKCbUJWck1nVsjlxpgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-21%2Bat%2B11.50.01%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="494" height="237" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5LgTtIwLuWY/WmTEyBtGRuI/AAAAAAAAxvA/3iEq94hvtN0ShHDRKCbUJWck1nVsjlxpgCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-21%2Bat%2B11.50.01%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />John Boyega, who plays Finn in <i>Star Wars: The Force Awakens</i> as well as in <i>The Last Jedi</i>, also joined in.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EDBNuB2nbQI/WmTFXgrmhFI/AAAAAAAAxvM/8iHoiGxBqFER_xxan1Gi_cfn6NYuhy0wQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-21%2Bat%2B11.52.28%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="494" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EDBNuB2nbQI/WmTFXgrmhFI/AAAAAAAAxvM/8iHoiGxBqFER_xxan1Gi_cfn6NYuhy0wQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-21%2Bat%2B11.52.28%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Yikes! As Yoda would say, "Fucked up, you did."<br /><b>It's </b>Sunday, instead of doing this blog thing I should be listening to this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DTIDH7brhFk/WmTGOVviYqI/AAAAAAAAxvU/dTsfRNrssRcJFhzSnjJFWGLAIBgYdCCSQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8ee.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="597" height="317" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DTIDH7brhFk/WmTGOVviYqI/AAAAAAAAxvU/dTsfRNrssRcJFhzSnjJFWGLAIBgYdCCSQCLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_8ee.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Maybe not. This year the Phile is 12-years-old so I decided to show how some celebrities looked like in 2006 and how they look now. Like Ryan Reynolds for instance.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qTneB0sT4aU/WmTRSwUH_jI/AAAAAAAAxxg/sZglwCiRHkg0UF-KCwaumGwu12y_VPN1QCLcBGAs/s1600/shutterstock94596115-iAe2N9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qTneB0sT4aU/WmTRSwUH_jI/AAAAAAAAxxg/sZglwCiRHkg0UF-KCwaumGwu12y_VPN1QCLcBGAs/s320/shutterstock94596115-iAe2N9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />In 2006 he was a surfer bro and now in 2018 he's a dad bro...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FLl8PSvTvco/WmTReKg6PuI/AAAAAAAAxxk/uYaqWOndke0YoDvNiOLbxx4GB_Bvj5LeACLcBGAs/s1600/ryan-reynolds-EoRIqm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FLl8PSvTvco/WmTReKg6PuI/AAAAAAAAxxk/uYaqWOndke0YoDvNiOLbxx4GB_Bvj5LeACLcBGAs/s320/ryan-reynolds-EoRIqm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />If I had a TARDIS I would like to go back in time and meet Teddy Roosevelt... but knowing my luck he would be just taking off in a plane.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M6QSafIxshU/WmTIDogf5WI/AAAAAAAAxvg/XBm6KrzbitMFl-StIEp4v29j_LghblZlACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8f2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="664" height="283" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M6QSafIxshU/WmTIDogf5WI/AAAAAAAAxvg/XBm6KrzbitMFl-StIEp4v29j_LghblZlACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8f2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Teddy was the first president to fly in a plane. Did you see the new Nike ad? I don't understand the <i>Star Wars</i> connection...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7cwwvhy0IQU/WmTIgy46dVI/AAAAAAAAxvk/2RcXIU13QlYfZRFr_e7JKrRwX7d4xCcEACLcBGAs/s1600/Repost_77ae85_6366697.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7cwwvhy0IQU/WmTIgy46dVI/AAAAAAAAxvk/2RcXIU13QlYfZRFr_e7JKrRwX7d4xCcEACLcBGAs/s400/Repost_77ae85_6366697.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />If you're thinking about cheating on your loved one you might wanna think twice after seeing this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WAOJ8j2g4gs/WmTI7TuU8DI/AAAAAAAAxvo/9kIQDCmBbR8yAqADW_uTJyeC4LFf8wREACLcBGAs/s1600/27-WZ6TTX.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WAOJ8j2g4gs/WmTI7TuU8DI/AAAAAAAAxvo/9kIQDCmBbR8yAqADW_uTJyeC4LFf8wREACLcBGAs/s400/27-WZ6TTX.jpg" width="299" /></a></div><br />Wow. I wonder how much she spent on that banner. People are still mad about Trump's "shithole countries" comments concerning immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, and Africa. They are using the president's own words to describe his Washington D.C. hotel on Yelp. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZDJWNBydlcI/WmTJ8h2RMwI/AAAAAAAAxv4/424s-rB1pOkP86pcESoqp9wg8adgxDkdgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8be.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="171" data-original-width="700" height="97" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZDJWNBydlcI/WmTJ8h2RMwI/AAAAAAAAxv4/424s-rB1pOkP86pcESoqp9wg8adgxDkdgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8be.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hey, ever see how some people are creative with their wifi names?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0zMgb3TLcmE/WmTKTv7UmNI/AAAAAAAAxwA/SpmbsEhacukNibrI8LWmGM2i47Wspq68QCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8f4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="286" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0zMgb3TLcmE/WmTKTv7UmNI/AAAAAAAAxwA/SpmbsEhacukNibrI8LWmGM2i47Wspq68QCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8f4.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><br /><br />So, this weekend marks the year anniversary of Trump being sworn in as president. Conversely, it also marks the anniversary of last year's Women's March on D.C., where over 5 million people marched worldwide in protest of Trump's sexism (both in political policy and his alleged history of sexual assault). The organizers of the movement have continued to harness the energy of last year by organizing marches and rallies across the country this weekend. While the importance of solidarity and gathering to express dissent certainly comes foremost, it's always a treat to see the creative, funny, and often poignant signs that people make for these marches. For the rest of this month I will be showing you some of the more creative signs these women had...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-27WW3gmXDZg/WmTL5h511XI/AAAAAAAAxwQ/HHcI5pG43KQjdQCS2NV3wAhLw0C6Hy0LgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8e7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="748" height="277" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-27WW3gmXDZg/WmTL5h511XI/AAAAAAAAxwQ/HHcI5pG43KQjdQCS2NV3wAhLw0C6Hy0LgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8e7.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Funny. And she's cute. Haha. Speaking of Trump, it seems kids are not the only one eating those Tide pods...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ephq98nQI1E/WmTMHOegKkI/AAAAAAAAxwU/IJk1cD6uBYMJYfIuZJ_orPBe_5M6u0N9wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="956" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ephq98nQI1E/WmTMHOegKkI/AAAAAAAAxwU/IJk1cD6uBYMJYfIuZJ_orPBe_5M6u0N9wCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3186.JPG" width="397" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>He's healthy so they might not be that bad after all. So, one of the best things about the Internet is you can look at porn for free. But the problem with that though is you might decide to go look at porn instead of read this blog. Then I thought why don't I post a porn pic here? But what if you were at work or school or in church? I don't want you to get in trouble. Then I came up with a solution...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-htO3Da2KIBw/WmTO4O8abQI/AAAAAAAAxw0/hGULXGCCBxAaqkW9pL_w7Hezu3N4rFeYwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8fd.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="600" height="265" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-htO3Da2KIBw/WmTO4O8abQI/AAAAAAAAxw0/hGULXGCCBxAaqkW9pL_w7Hezu3N4rFeYwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8fd.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />You're welcome.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X_-6hMXyRWc/WmTMdqb1bFI/AAAAAAAAxwc/TvCJF3XYGecChnyARblrQmj_tVHfHWMygCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X_-6hMXyRWc/WmTMdqb1bFI/AAAAAAAAxwc/TvCJF3XYGecChnyARblrQmj_tVHfHWMygCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YYuLKL0PU3U/WmTMkBWoxbI/AAAAAAAAxwg/suWsEwKPsgQEwZAN8Xr1KC_56LERz4T5wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="549" height="288" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YYuLKL0PU3U/WmTMkBWoxbI/AAAAAAAAxwg/suWsEwKPsgQEwZAN8Xr1KC_56LERz4T5wCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3047.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. It's not the best one. So, I was thinking it's Sunday, and I need a little inspirational talk... and I thought you might as well. So, I thought I'll invite a friend of the Phile to help. He's a singer, patriot and renaissance man. You know what time it is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ee3UFa_x7es/WmTPd9kc9mI/AAAAAAAAxxA/O3CDdxYLT8whh0kggST5C4diXDYxwzHNACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8ff.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1566" data-original-width="1400" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ee3UFa_x7es/WmTPd9kc9mI/AAAAAAAAxxA/O3CDdxYLT8whh0kggST5C4diXDYxwzHNACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8ff.jpeg" width="357" /></a></div><br />Good afternoon, phuckerz. Next time you think you’ve got it rough... and you’re sitting there, feeling sorry for yourself... remember... it could be far worse. You could be a stuttering, blind, albino, paraplegic, midget who just fell overboard on a cruise ship into shark infested waters. God must’ve really hated THAT little cunt.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mkyt9xIhQkY/WmTQPiqxweI/AAAAAAAAxxM/ZONhuQyc4c42eEfY5N5nTDpvyy9PabEiACLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="400" height="187" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mkyt9xIhQkY/WmTQPiqxweI/AAAAAAAAxxM/ZONhuQyc4c42eEfY5N5nTDpvyy9PabEiACLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3DTkIkZMVtk/WmTQrsnK3OI/AAAAAAAAxxQ/GylZa3YBZB4v4Cl6gLDzz5aEB7lxcQuTQCLcBGAs/s1600/52-DHNTyq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="600" height="352" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3DTkIkZMVtk/WmTQrsnK3OI/AAAAAAAAxxQ/GylZa3YBZB4v4Cl6gLDzz5aEB7lxcQuTQCLcBGAs/s400/52-DHNTyq.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hahaha.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YPwhRlKe8k4/WmTRpSCbFCI/AAAAAAAAxxo/vH766n7CKhoa2gfHpGULrsHQ_EdOS0hbQCLcBGAs/s1600/yoursign-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YPwhRlKe8k4/WmTRpSCbFCI/AAAAAAAAxxo/vH766n7CKhoa2gfHpGULrsHQ_EdOS0hbQCLcBGAs/s400/yoursign-41.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />The 73rd book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HnTToZ_DPc8/WmTR0m_LYAI/AAAAAAAAxxw/r7Ix1uFfUX07HvFDbWOwcsWEk-yQoiCYgCLcBGAs/s1600/51VAGhHprzL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HnTToZ_DPc8/WmTR0m_LYAI/AAAAAAAAxxw/r7Ix1uFfUX07HvFDbWOwcsWEk-yQoiCYgCLcBGAs/s400/51VAGhHprzL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />Linda will be the guest on the Phile tomorrow.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8QEvW40gsSk/WmTSHL_cmAI/AAAAAAAAxx0/YPhtdp3UXtMfY5DYvfS62Fg-OAYq6fHmQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8QEvW40gsSk/WmTSHL_cmAI/AAAAAAAAxx0/YPhtdp3UXtMfY5DYvfS62Fg-OAYq6fHmQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Phact 1.</b> While animating <i>Ratatoullie</i>, a Pixar employee jumped into a pool while wearing a chef’s outfit and had to determine how it would cling to a character’s body and what parts would become translucent.<br /><br /><b>Phact 2.</b> In 1996, a bill was passed to protect food vendors from liability for giving unused food to the needy instead of throwing it away for liability reasons.<br /><br /><b>Phact 3.</b> Albrecht II of Bayreuth, a famously cruel ruler once picked a random man from a crowd and ordered him to perform an execution. Due to the severe social stigma attached to executioners he couldn’t return to his job as a woodcutter, he was condemned to carry on as an executioner and so was his son.<br /><br /><b>Phact 4. </b><i>Psycho</i> was shot in black and white because Hitchcock believed the blood during the shower scene in color would be too much for audiences. He used chocolate syrup instead.<br /><br /><b>Phact 5. </b>A drunk hunter singlehandedly caused a 285,000 gallon oil spill by shooting the Trans-Alaska Pipeline with a .338-caliber rifle.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AaXvpPDoul8/WmTTJUWTU4I/AAAAAAAAxyI/koTab7vaO3wh1eJWzXR92RabTMi0pMOgwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_ab.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="203" data-original-width="220" height="369" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AaXvpPDoul8/WmTTJUWTU4I/AAAAAAAAxyI/koTab7vaO3wh1eJWzXR92RabTMi0pMOgwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_ab.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today's pheatured guest is a brand new singer whose new single "Never Wanted You" is available on Bandcamp. Please welcome to the Phile... Taylor Mac.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tbeIe8K758E/WmTUdkaTssI/AAAAAAAAxyU/LIw_tDLxNpYgOnnFWGeN4ZNvWRgquFVvQCLcBGAs/s1600/Taylor%2BMac.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tbeIe8K758E/WmTUdkaTssI/AAAAAAAAxyU/LIw_tDLxNpYgOnnFWGeN4ZNvWRgquFVvQCLcBGAs/s400/Taylor%2BMac.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hey, Taylor, welcome to the Phile. How are you?<br /><br /><b>Taylor: </b>Hi, Jason, thank you so much for having me on the Phile. I am doing well, very excited to have this opportunity.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>You're from Kansas City, am I right? Have you lived there all your life?<br /><br /><b>Taylor:</b> I <i>do</i> currently reside in Kansas City and have since 2002, however I have lived in multiple states during my life. I was born in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and then moved to New Jersey and the Oakland, California area before making it to Kansas City.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay, I love your song "Never Wanted You." Did you write that song yourself? Is this your first release, Taylor?<br /><br /><b>Taylor: </b>Thank you! I am not the composer, just the voice. My producer Ric Gordon wrote the song, and I love it. This <i>is</i> my first release.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, I thought for sure the song is about someone <i>you</i> had in mind, is isn't?<br /><br /><b>Taylor:</b> Ric and I had a discussion about his inspiration for the song. He wanted to challenge himself to write a song that started each line with the same phrase, in this case “never wanted you." As the vocalist, I summon the emotion felt by my close friend’s dad when his marriage ended suddenly and without warning.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>When did you first start to sing, Taylor?<br /><br /><b>Taylor:</b> I have been singing since I could talk. It has always been a passion of mine and growing up I was told many times that it is a talent I should pursue. I started to write songs when I was about 13 years old.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>When Ric wrote the song was it on piano or guitar? Do <i>you</i> play an instrument?<br /><br /><b>Taylor: </b>Ric wrote the song on the guitar. I have dabbled with different instruments throughout my life such as guitar, drums, and the viola. I currently only play piano.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>You have a four-year-old daughter, am I right? Did you play the song to her? Did she like it?<br /><br /><b>Taylor: </b>Yes, I have a four-year-old little girl who is the light of my life. I did play her the song and she recognized it was me singing, but I think that was the extent of her interest. Toys were more important.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Hahaha. So, when you were a kid you hosted a news show? "My Teen TV"? What was that about?<br /><br /><b>Taylor: "</b>My Teen TV" was an amazing opportunity. It was produced by the Kansas City news station KCTV5, and it was comprised of many different segments. The ones I was a part of were hosting, movie reviews, and the election special. With hosting I stood in front of the green screen and transitioned the show between segments and commercials. As a movie critic, I was given press passes to movie screening before their theatrical release and then would give the synopsis of the movie and my rating during the show. I felt like the coolest kid being a movie critic. The election special really focused on how the youth was perceiving the election.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Did you like being on TV, Taylor?<br /><br /><b>Taylor: </b>I do like being on TV. It is a unique experience and one that brings out a different confidence in me.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Did you do any acting growing up?<br /><br /><b>Taylor: </b>As a child I went to theater summer camps. We put on different play versions of Disney movies. The two I specifically remember were "Beauty and the Beast," and "Peter Pan." For "Beauty and the Beast" I was a feather duster, having just about two speaking lines. For "Peter Pan," I was honored with the role of the Narrator.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Your music has been compare to Bat For Lashes, Likke Li, and Cat Power... all good singers. Are they influences of yours?<br /><br /><b>Taylor: </b>They are artists that I admire. I do not go out of my way to sound like them, but I keep them in mind while I am singing as motivation to put my heart and soul into the music.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b>&nbsp;You mentioned your single was produced by Ric Gordon, who is a Phile Alum. What was it like working with him?<br /><br /><b>Taylor:</b> Ric is great to work with. He is encouraging and provides constructive criticism in a way that makes you want to keep going. He also has a talent for composing. His material is wonderful and I am grateful to be the voice to some of his songs.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>How did you first meet Ric and get signed to his label, Russisn Winter Records?<br /><br /><b>Ric:</b> Ric knew my mother. When I was in school and competing in state contest for vocal solo, she invited him to come hear me sing. He signed me on quickly but we waited for the right song before getting me in the studio. We both wanted my first release to be a perfect match. I would say we succeeded.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, who came up with the artwork for the single, Taylor?<br /><br /><b>Taylor: </b>The artwork was a collaboration between Ric and I. I wanted something simple, like a silhouette. That is when he made the suggestion of using the restroom image. It was perfect.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Are you gonna be making a video for the song?<br /><br /><b>Taylor: </b>I <i>am</i> currently working on a video for this song and hope to complete and release it in the very near future.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>You're a competitive swimmer, am I right? Do you still do that for fun?<br /><br /><b>Taylor: </b>Yes, I swam competitively for twelve years until an injury took me out for a year long recovery. I still love to swim and it is my preferred medium for exercise.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, are you working on an EP or more single?<br /><br /><b>Taylor:</b> There is another single currently in the works that I am very excited for. I am hoping to have an EP released later on this year.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What about shows? Are you gonna perform on stage?<br /><br /><b>Taylor:</b> At this time I do not have any plans for touring. With only having one single released, my focus is on being in the studio and getting more material out there.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Taylor, thanks so much for being on the Phile. That's what I love about this stupid little blog... I get to interview veteran people who have been in the business for a long time and new artists who are starting out. Will you come back on the Phile soon?<br /><br /><b>Taylor:</b> I would love to come back to the Phile if you will have me.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Of course. I live here in Florida and work for Disney... you need to bring your daughter down here. Good luck, continued success. Take care.<br /><br /><b>Taylor:</b> Disney is the goal vacation for any parent. I hope we get the chance to make it down there. Thank you, Jason, for having me on the Phile and for your kind words about my first single “Never Wanted You."<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XdHlrhEBwLY/WmTaf5VW0WI/AAAAAAAAxyk/fFstEZ7O_kIHuYXcSMMj5h7tzKE9GdnawCLcBGAs/s1600/4fc6db39-cd2e-4f3c-8202-cab5335161e1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="250" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XdHlrhEBwLY/WmTaf5VW0WI/AAAAAAAAxyk/fFstEZ7O_kIHuYXcSMMj5h7tzKE9GdnawCLcBGAs/s320/4fc6db39-cd2e-4f3c-8202-cab5335161e1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to my guests Laird Jim and of course Taylor Mac. The Phile will be back tomorrow with author Linda S. Godfrey. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9gVAaxejdVQ/WmTberkgGrI/AAAAAAAAxyw/ykspTH9isSIsVZ8i6DyA4HO9nLOOWotCgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_903.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="492" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9gVAaxejdVQ/WmTberkgGrI/AAAAAAAAxyw/ykspTH9isSIsVZ8i6DyA4HO9nLOOWotCgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_903.jpeg" width="290" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="post-footer" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"></div><br /><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1561156784584627926" itemprop="description articleBody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; orphans: auto; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; width: 586px; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1011542653943805414" itemprop="description articleBody" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 586px; word-spacing: 0px;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i><br /><div style="clear: both;"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div></div>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-15611567845846279262018-01-18T18:16:00.000-05:002018-01-18T18:16:32.135-05:00Pheaturing Phile Alum Kevin Hearn From Barenaked Ladies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XMhySh3m-m4/WmELXfrjPhI/AAAAAAAAxpE/aSlq0gGDetQA6zRIpnv7rRNHG-yLZCJKgCLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XMhySh3m-m4/WmELXfrjPhI/AAAAAAAAxpE/aSlq0gGDetQA6zRIpnv7rRNHG-yLZCJKgCLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hey</b> there, welcome to the Phile for a Thursday. let's throwback to a happier time before Throwback Thursdays existed. So, we've all been there... you wake up to a yard full of snow, glance up from over the edge of your morning cup of coffee you think, "Fuck. How many inches in that?" After all, a few inches of snow can mean the difference between school being open and a snow day. Or working from the office or working from home! Or, you know, just being a generally productive member of society versus a lazy slob who hangs out in their pajamas all day. Well, one genius woman from North Carolina figured out the best way to measure the depth of the snow without ever having to find a ruler.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QWPzsNi6dy4/WmEMgV7zZ1I/AAAAAAAAxpU/VXKhj76UT-8FhjYq9V4l-hYrfID5gRF2gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-18%2Bat%2B4.05.47%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="590" height="396" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QWPzsNi6dy4/WmEMgV7zZ1I/AAAAAAAAxpU/VXKhj76UT-8FhjYq9V4l-hYrfID5gRF2gCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-18%2Bat%2B4.05.47%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Dana Willis determined how much snowfall there was balls-to-tip by pushing pink dildo into the snow. At time of publication, Willis' post has been shared over 3,000 times. Hey, you have to admit... &nbsp;that is pretty innovative. Plus, it is probably more accurate than whatever the meteorologist is telling you.<br /><b>Cardiologists</b> not affiliated with the White House are chiming in on the results of President Donald Trump's physical and they are concerned. At the White House press briefing on Tuesday, resident doctor Ronny Jackson announced that despite literally being an inch away from obesity, Trump and his heart are in excellent health because of "incredible genes." The "New York Times" reached out to heart specialists to react to the State of the President's Organs. "Cardiologists not associated with the White House said Wednesday that President Trump’s physical exam revealed serious heart concerns," the "Times" reports, "Including very high levels of so-called bad cholesterol, which raises the risk that Mr. Trump could have a heart attack while in office." Dr. David Maron, the director of preventive cardiology at Stanford Medical School, said that it is "alarming that the president’s LDL levels remain above 140 even though he is taking 10 milligrams of Crestor, a powerful drug that is used to lower cholesterol levels to well below 100." As Dr. Jackson announced, Trump has a cholesterol level of 143. The Stanford doc got real... Dr. Maron said he would “definitely” be worried about Mr. Trump’s risk for having a heart attack if the president were one of his patients. Asked if Mr. Trump is in perfect health, Dr. Maron offered a blunt reply, “God, no.” Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist at the Scripps Research Institute, is worried about Trump's belly. "Here the issue is, does he have abdominal obesity?" Dr. Topol told the "Times." "I don’t care what his height is. All you have to do is look at his abdomen. Abdominal obesity, that’s the machinery for inflammation for the heart."<br /><b>Meghan</b> Markle, the princess the world needs but does not yet deserve, officially joins the Royal Family on May 19th (order the tea and crumpets now for the ultimate watch party), but is getting some nice engagement gifts from the United Kingdom's allies. And by nice, I mean lame. Markle's brother-in-law-to-be, His Royal Highness Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge, went on a royal visit to Finland last November, and a recently published PDF cataloged the gifts he received from the Finns. Prince William scored a lot of cool stuff, including a wristwatch from the president, a bottle of gin, and TWO FABRIC GNOMES!!! Members of the Finnish public also gave Prince William some tchotchkes to pass on to Kate and the kids, including two hobby horses and a necklace. Way down at the bottom of the list, is the gift a Finn gave to Wills to give to Meghan, and it's a goddamn apron. Her first gift as a member of the Royal family and it's something she'll probably never use? "You're getting married... now get in the kitchen and make your man a sandwich!" Come on, Finland. Meghan deserves better. Where are her FABRIC GNOMES? The Welsh, on the other hand, are better gift-givers. Prince Harry and Meghan are visiting Cardiff Castle today, and they scored a traditional Celtic love spoon from cute kids with their names. Wales: 1. Finland: 0.<br /><b>A</b> sorority girl in Alabama has been outed as a total racist, as per a video from her Finsta (that's a "fake Instagram" account). The video was tweeted by Twitter user @TabisBack, along with the text...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c0_vPbz-Zb4/WmEO-6WFs5I/AAAAAAAAxpk/ZF0vDbft_KYVFoRVchIkwssCleTfyC0ZQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-18%2Bat%2B4.16.55%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="136" data-original-width="493" height="110" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c0_vPbz-Zb4/WmEO-6WFs5I/AAAAAAAAxpk/ZF0vDbft_KYVFoRVchIkwssCleTfyC0ZQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-18%2Bat%2B4.16.55%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />In the video, which was taken in a communal bathroom by the Alpha Phi sister in question, Harley Barber, she can be seen shutting off the water while talking about how much she hates "niggers." It's beyond appalling. The girl in question posted a follow up video after her racist soliloquy was leaked, which was tweeted by the same person. Instead of apologizing, she just doubled down harder, saying how angry she is that someone ratted her out to her sorority. She says that she's in the south now, but she's from New Jersey, so she can say the n-word as often as she likes. She then challenges anyone who wants to "snake" her to buy her fur vest at Neiman Marcus, which is I guess a way of saying she's rich and everyone else can fuck off? The university issued the following statement via Twitter, "These remarks are ignorant and disturbing and in no way reflect the values of The University of Alabama. This unfortunate behavior has been reported to the Office of Student Conduct as it does not align with the community expectations of students at the Capstone. And the sorority says the girl (identified here as Ms. Barber) has been kicked out of their organization." So after all that, this Ms. Barber was probably feeling pretty contrite, right? Wrong. This is what her Finsta looks like now...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SCKEyIYcJ8Y/WmEPiwZsSBI/AAAAAAAAxps/mmGVkRexw88X0MxPGPSA7PPNgbR-F98gACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-18%2Bat%2B4.19.48%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="659" data-original-width="493" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SCKEyIYcJ8Y/WmEPiwZsSBI/AAAAAAAAxps/mmGVkRexw88X0MxPGPSA7PPNgbR-F98gACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-18%2Bat%2B4.19.48%2BPM.png" width="298" /></a></div><br />Tweeted by the same user, @TabisBack, her Instagram account is now private. WOW. Good-bye to bad rubbish.<br /><b>Stormy</b> Daniels, the adult film star who Donald Trump allegedly paid $130,000 to in 2016 for her silence concerning an affair they'd reportedly had a decade earlier, had spoken to "In Touch" in 2011, way before signing the NDA. In the interview, she talked about having sex with Trump (her words: "Ugh, here we go"), as well as how impressed he supposedly was with her business savvy. An excerpt of the interview has been published by "In Touch" online, but the full interview can only be read in the actual magazine. According to "Spin," one of the things that made it into the magazine but not the online excerpt is the part where Donald Trump compares Stormy Daniels to his own daughter. Ewwwww, nooooooo. But yes. "Spin" reports that Daniels told "In Touch," “We had really good banter. He told me once that I was someone to be reckoned with, beautiful, smart, just like his daughter." Cue the sound of retching. Trump must mean his daughter Ivanka Trump, who would have been 24 at the time. She, not Tiffany (who was then 11), is the one he's famously sexualized so many times before. Like when he called Ivanka "hot" when she was 16 years old, or like when he told Howard Stern in 2003 that "she's got the best body" (she was by then 21). Or when he said in 2006 on "The View" that he might be dating Ivanka if she weren't his daughter. Again, ewwww, noooo. So it sounds like Donald Trump really liked Stormy Daniels, since he compared her to his ultimate, ideal woman: Ivanka.<br /><b>If</b> I had a TARDIS I would like to go and see the California Redwoods but knowing my luck I'll get there when they are being chopped down.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yvOr53VBcPU/WmERK7ieBXI/AAAAAAAAxp4/XZ3CtaPPD20__BmUDggLHoIRRyV0hMl_ACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8d4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="675" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yvOr53VBcPU/WmERK7ieBXI/AAAAAAAAxp4/XZ3CtaPPD20__BmUDggLHoIRRyV0hMl_ACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8d4.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />So, I was supposed to Google "Tom Hanks" the other day and instead I Googled "Tom Tanks" and this is what I got...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-du7b1uCgYfk/WmESFMgMJEI/AAAAAAAAxqA/f-3PcHqGxjEUahUTs8mQueboQrsfEtuWwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8d5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="1340" height="198" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-du7b1uCgYfk/WmESFMgMJEI/AAAAAAAAxqA/f-3PcHqGxjEUahUTs8mQueboQrsfEtuWwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8d5.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. If you're thinking of cheating on your loved one this might make you think twice...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PtASuPfIcOU/WmESp0AjgMI/AAAAAAAAxqM/svmUkLCHjuczg7pScCUxOiYqN2P908IhACLcBGAs/s1600/26-7zNTWz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="945" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PtASuPfIcOU/WmESp0AjgMI/AAAAAAAAxqM/svmUkLCHjuczg7pScCUxOiYqN2P908IhACLcBGAs/s400/26-7zNTWz.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><br />Oh, shit. Do you kids like the Porgs from <i>The Last Jedi</i>? You know that wasn't the first <i>Star Wars </i>movie they made an appearance in, right?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rsJ88_DKqn8/WmETTbTkPFI/AAAAAAAAxqU/omu-aLu89PYN9W2mmaysYFAA5Kby9g2jwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2741.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rsJ88_DKqn8/WmETTbTkPFI/AAAAAAAAxqU/omu-aLu89PYN9W2mmaysYFAA5Kby9g2jwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2741.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />So, if you want to stay at the Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. you might wanna check Yelp first...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZCF7b9Zj8e0/WmEUEUUO-qI/AAAAAAAAxqg/MTqRfIx7mt0GJRqWaowF3X-w5ECKZXabgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8bd.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="700" height="109" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZCF7b9Zj8e0/WmEUEUUO-qI/AAAAAAAAxqg/MTqRfIx7mt0GJRqWaowF3X-w5ECKZXabgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8bd.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Yup. I don't think I'll stay there. Did you see the new Oreo cookie that just came out?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-So29BKEK3a4/WmEUd9a94RI/AAAAAAAAxqk/5_TJMTfz5TQaB63fbFC2L1B8-h2DDJ3OACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8d7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="773" data-original-width="718" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-So29BKEK3a4/WmEUd9a94RI/AAAAAAAAxqk/5_TJMTfz5TQaB63fbFC2L1B8-h2DDJ3OACLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_8d7.jpeg" width="296" /></a></div><br />Limited edition so go get them now at the supermarket near you. So, it's the Phile's 12th anniversary and I am showing you what some celebrities looked like in 2006 and what they look like now. In 2006 Beyoncé looked like a glowing, ethereal angel...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wQt893dVlwQ/WmEXekQztNI/AAAAAAAAxrI/6fd1Qpb3h6UShm6Y_Cckyr2Um3AuE1wwQCLcBGAs/s1600/shutterstock117330265-VMesOa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wQt893dVlwQ/WmEXekQztNI/AAAAAAAAxrI/6fd1Qpb3h6UShm6Y_Cckyr2Um3AuE1wwQCLcBGAs/s320/shutterstock117330265-VMesOa.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />And in 2018 she's still a glowing, ethereal angel, but older.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QL5h9-rQzQI/WmEXz5Wtk0I/AAAAAAAAxrc/IL21gv0sGgEJi6FtlGrDrjMi_zE858LKwCLcBGAs/s1600/beyonce-1-lxWkjF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QL5h9-rQzQI/WmEXz5Wtk0I/AAAAAAAAxrc/IL21gv0sGgEJi6FtlGrDrjMi_zE858LKwCLcBGAs/s400/beyonce-1-lxWkjF.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I know the Grammys haven't this year yet. Play along. Hey, it's Thursday, guess what that means?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-APYXVQ7dOk4/WmEVx-1VjpI/AAAAAAAAxqw/jzpQz8W7vpI_Pdxe1pz3VFSYAb5K-3XUQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_15.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="531" height="276" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-APYXVQ7dOk4/WmEVx-1VjpI/AAAAAAAAxqw/jzpQz8W7vpI_Pdxe1pz3VFSYAb5K-3XUQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_15.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HNrNK0LHhUo/WmEWHZf5iLI/AAAAAAAAxq0/w6AQzmSN7_0-VPByEjkhc9kQ0gIu4TrtQCLcBGAs/s1600/a97178_spiders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="450" height="315" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HNrNK0LHhUo/WmEWHZf5iLI/AAAAAAAAxq0/w6AQzmSN7_0-VPByEjkhc9kQ0gIu4TrtQCLcBGAs/s400/a97178_spiders.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Tom Buchanan, an Australian kid, claimed the world record for having the most spiders on his body for 30 seconds. He had 125 Golden Orb spiders on his body for a total of 55 seconds. Golden Orb spiders are not poisonous, according to Buchanan, but they do bite and can make your body swell up. Ummm... no.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RuwsjMQn3b8/WmEWc1NKYHI/AAAAAAAAxq8/PYab2e_M7IQ55hvETz73cgonEDWhSEZzwCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RuwsjMQn3b8/WmEWc1NKYHI/AAAAAAAAxq8/PYab2e_M7IQ55hvETz73cgonEDWhSEZzwCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U-J05232Kg8/WmEWnhvq5OI/AAAAAAAAxrA/KAZI3IQbdV4m5-mfm1ZNpuJ7DlZ_4G-0wCLcBGAs/s1600/Cursed_8e9bb8_6337521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="584" data-original-width="465" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U-J05232Kg8/WmEWnhvq5OI/AAAAAAAAxrA/KAZI3IQbdV4m5-mfm1ZNpuJ7DlZ_4G-0wCLcBGAs/s400/Cursed_8e9bb8_6337521.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><br />Hmmm... that has to be the dumbest Mindphuck ever. If you spot it let me know. It's time to talk football with my good friend Jeff.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WvDz9KIOLxA/WmEYgxmfc3I/AAAAAAAAxro/gN3V2GMibtMdRGnRuroJJE2vDGSYdZ5YwCLcBGAs/s1600/21175267_10155181387409355_2128367425_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="574" height="216" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WvDz9KIOLxA/WmEYgxmfc3I/AAAAAAAAxro/gN3V2GMibtMdRGnRuroJJE2vDGSYdZ5YwCLcBGAs/s400/21175267_10155181387409355_2128367425_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me: </b>Hey, Jeff, welcome back to the Phile. How are you doing?<br /><br /><b>Jeff: </b>Always good to be back on the Phile! I'm doing well, how about you?<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You don't wanna know. Man, oh man, oh man, did you see what’s being dubbed the Minnesota Miracle? For those that don't know WR Stefon Diggs hauled in a Case Keenum pass in the final seconds of the NFC divisional round of the playoffs to beat the Saints. This is what happened it looked like from the side lines...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Aw2HvFhogVU/WmEZVJSFutI/AAAAAAAAxr0/6Q1-2QMeQB4yEuEz2QgzuS8UtqgM4rXiwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8db.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="673" height="215" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Aw2HvFhogVU/WmEZVJSFutI/AAAAAAAAxr0/6Q1-2QMeQB4yEuEz2QgzuS8UtqgM4rXiwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8db.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Do you think the name Minnesota Miracle was an exaggeration?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> No, I don't think it was an exaggeration. Minnesota scored with absolutely no time left on the clock. It's as exciting of a football game as you can get.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Jeff, your Steelers lost to the Jags in another crazy game. What do you think of Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey guaranteeing a win over Patriots and a Super Bowl victory? That would be amazing, right?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> First, let me comment on the Steeler game. They deserved to lose. They, and by that I mean the Steelers, made some pretty bad playcalling decisions, namely the two fourth and ones as well as the decision to go for the onside kick. As far as Ramsey's comments, of course every player on the Jags team thinks they are going to beat New England. I don't blame him for getting carried away. That doesn't mean it's going to happen. But it would be nice!<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Ben Roethlisberger told reporters after the Playoff loss that he “plans” on coming back next year. Do you think he will? I bet you hope he does, right?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> I like Ben. I really do. But he can be a bit of a diva. He does this every single year. He speculates about his future minutes after a playoff loss. Yeah, I think he will be back next season.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, what other NFL news do you have?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> Most of the news involves the coaching carousel. A lot of teams filling their coaching vacancies with coordinators from other teams. Looks like New England is losing both their offensive and defensive coordinators in the offseason. The Titans on Sunday were talking about extending head coach Mike Mularkey. By Monday, they mutually agreed to his release. Why? Titans wanted to make changes to the staff, Mularkey said no. So he said well then I'll just leave.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay, so, how did we do with the Playoffs pics, Jeff? Not good, right?<br /><br /><b>Jeff: </b>One of us went 2-0, the other went 0-2. So one of us did really well. And that was me! Victory is mine!<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Ugh! Okay, let's do this weeks picks... I say Eagles by 3 and I am betting against the Patriots by saying the Jags will win by 10. What do you think?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> I'll pick opposite of you! So I will go Vikings by 3 and New England by 10 to set up the Super Bowl.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, I'll see you back here next Thursday for when we pick the Super Bowl. Have a good week, Jeff, sorry the Steelers lost.<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> Sounds like a plan! I will see you then. Have a good week. <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I7bMcyRxDLQ/WmEbAKAOMJI/AAAAAAAAxsA/3P5JYasSv9IvO3gesnsQcM34YIfh0V7yACLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="400" height="187" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I7bMcyRxDLQ/WmEbAKAOMJI/AAAAAAAAxsA/3P5JYasSv9IvO3gesnsQcM34YIfh0V7yACLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7pO1A1QvRzs/WmEbsR4pFBI/AAAAAAAAxsI/k2tlUqta4FI4fvcjyIvORz2Dt1s2KeHPACLcBGAs/s1600/51-VXbxSo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="600" height="242" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7pO1A1QvRzs/WmEbsR4pFBI/AAAAAAAAxsI/k2tlUqta4FI4fvcjyIvORz2Dt1s2KeHPACLcBGAs/s400/51-VXbxSo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />So, I have ben watching one of my favorite shows from the 90s, "The X-Files" and it got me thinking, why don't I have my own conspiracy theory section on the Phile. So, it's time for...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pdsuLEDNpJM/WmEcGgHXwMI/AAAAAAAAxsM/JrjLWBVieoM82bijD60IpyKXKxidgHIZgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8a2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="69" data-original-width="400" height="68" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pdsuLEDNpJM/WmEcGgHXwMI/AAAAAAAAxsM/JrjLWBVieoM82bijD60IpyKXKxidgHIZgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8a2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />On August 2nd, 1964, the U.S.S. Maddox opened fire on what it later claimed were several North Vietnamese targets. The skirmish deepened America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, leading to the death of thousands of U.S. soldiers and many more Vietnamese, including hundreds of thousands of civilians. Except, it turned out the “targets” the Maddox fired upon didn’t actually exist. It’s still debated today whether the incident was an intentional misdirection by the military. But one thing is certain: President Johnson’s original claim that the North Vietnamese fired first has been debunked. Even former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara admitted as much in an interview before his death. After all, it’s kind of hard to start a fight when you’re not even there. <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aBSw07rFS2M/WmEc6G9cojI/AAAAAAAAxsc/ynhg8vvxMBsotzHL6iYFUAbrpWBmdYNGwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="583" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aBSw07rFS2M/WmEc6G9cojI/AAAAAAAAxsc/ynhg8vvxMBsotzHL6iYFUAbrpWBmdYNGwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div><br />Yesterday, President Trump finally announced the winners of his highly-anticipated Fake News Awards... mock accolades given to news outlets that, in the president's opinion, represent the most inaccurate news sources. The results were published to the GOP website, which crashed after seeing record-breaking amounts of traffic. Oops! The winners of the Fake News Awards were, unsurprisingly, the very same news outlets Trump often complains about on Twitter. Congrats to all the big winners (losers?). They are as follows: 11. The Trump campaign's possible collusion with Russia. Although President Trump insists there is no collusion, he is still under investigation from Special counsel Robert S. Mueller. 10. The "New York Times" for claiming on their front page that the Trump administration had hidden a climate report. 9. CNN for reporting that former FBI Director James Comey would dispute President Trump’s claim that he was told he is not under investigation. 8. "Newsweek" (good for you, Newsweek!), for reporting that Polish First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda did not shake President Trump’s hand. Okay, that one is just petty. 7. CNN for their retracted story on Anthony "The Mooch" Scaramucci’s meeting with a Russian. The three reporters who ran this story were eventually fired from CNN. 6. CNN wins again (they are sweeping!) for the "FALSELY edited a video" that "made it appear President Trump defiantly overfed fish during a visit with the Japanese prime minister." Yes, really. Trump claims that he was simply following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's lead by dumping his box out into the water. 5. The "Washington Post," for "reporting" that Trump's rally in Pensacola, Florida was empty. This was a tweet, and not an actual news story. The author of the tweet quickly corrected themselves and later apologized for the mistake. 4. "Time Magazine" for reporting that President Trump removed a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Oval Office. This news was not reported on by "Time," but another viral tweet. 3. CNN for reporting that then-candidate Donald Trump and his son Donald J. Trump, Jr. had access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks. It turns out that the documents in question were publicly available. CNN later published a correction. 2. ABC News' Brian Ross for his inaccurate timeline while reporting on Trump and Russia. Ross was suspended for the "serious mistake." 1. The "New York Times"’ columnist Paul Krugman, an opinion writer who predicted that President Trump would be bad for the economy. He actually retracted the prediction just three days after it ran, but it was too late. He had already made Trump's list. Yes, the President of the United States published his own personal "burn book" on the Internet. Missing from the list are the outlets that tend look at Trump favorably, like Fox News and Breitbart News. The Fake News Awards were also a hit on Twitter, with folks either agreeing with the President, commenting on the list, or just straight-out mocking the whole thing. With the success of the actual Fake News Awards, don't be surprised if President Trump orders an full-fledged, televised award show next year. Stranger things have certainly happened.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ME_3eYQstB0/WmEgSZVlaiI/AAAAAAAAxs8/hEl9r7mL5OoQV1LBYXvPbCILPzOEe7AaACLcBGAs/s1600/yoursign-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ME_3eYQstB0/WmEgSZVlaiI/AAAAAAAAxs8/hEl9r7mL5OoQV1LBYXvPbCILPzOEe7AaACLcBGAs/s400/yoursign-41.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />The 73rd book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-huJNtroU8_4/WmEgdHE1v_I/AAAAAAAAxtA/_gYRNrFtsUMYLNTsD5Dt3mWKxL6nmOX8QCLcBGAs/s1600/51VAGhHprzL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-huJNtroU8_4/WmEgdHE1v_I/AAAAAAAAxtA/_gYRNrFtsUMYLNTsD5Dt3mWKxL6nmOX8QCLcBGAs/s320/51VAGhHprzL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br />Linda will be the guest on the Phile on Monday.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WN2ZoIFkPco/WmEgzc_OTsI/AAAAAAAAxtI/TgN3XrY9cvESloS3bpwfulOQ9pDtFFCYwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_1e.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="922" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WN2ZoIFkPco/WmEgzc_OTsI/AAAAAAAAxtI/TgN3XrY9cvESloS3bpwfulOQ9pDtFFCYwCLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_1e.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><br /><b>Space heater</b><br />A space heater is a device used the raise the electric bill of a small studio apartment.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qGtxqdW_524/WmEhRWQ4qOI/AAAAAAAAxtU/T9jQEJO90ZQ0SOQ1-hDYuzidYzq8z_NagCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8e1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="300" height="374" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qGtxqdW_524/WmEhRWQ4qOI/AAAAAAAAxtU/T9jQEJO90ZQ0SOQ1-hDYuzidYzq8z_NagCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8e1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Today's pheatured guest is a Phile Alum and a Canadian musician who is currently the keyboardist of Barenaked Ladies and his own group, The Cousins. The Cousins news CD "Rattlesnake Love" and BNL's latest CD "Fake Nudes" are both available on iTunes and Amazon. Please welcome back to the Phile, the very talented... Kevin Hearn.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dYSMtWqnzs4/WmEiG16kdzI/AAAAAAAAxtg/eX0d6FIVrXw9SZHLqNd7kRUCEPXnY7VzwCLcBGAs/s1600/21191990_10159512883105727_7521859902557878081_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dYSMtWqnzs4/WmEiG16kdzI/AAAAAAAAxtg/eX0d6FIVrXw9SZHLqNd7kRUCEPXnY7VzwCLcBGAs/s320/21191990_10159512883105727_7521859902557878081_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Me: </b>Hey, Kev, welcome back to the Phlie, sir. It's been awhile. How have you been?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> Well, it has been a while. I’ve been good, bad, happy, sad, medium, light, mild, spicy, here, there, and other places.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Cool. Haha. Okay, last year you had a very, very busy year, which is good. Do you like to remain busy?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> I do. I enjoy having projects on the go, and I always enjoy having my creative process going in one form or another. But then, on top of my own endeavours, other things may come up that I must do and then I'm really REALLY busy and that’s what 2017 was like for me.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Let's talk about your album with did with your cousin Harland Williams as The Cousins. I have to show the album cover here...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a3elXjwZU6o/WmEjY027F4I/AAAAAAAAxts/UTTMog1ebcIh2dn1CHmJ7XsEHMvwHuMAQCLcBGAs/s1600/ac3139_1e013572811644f38353bad68d472322%257Emv2_d_3000_3000_s_4_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="582" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a3elXjwZU6o/WmEjY027F4I/AAAAAAAAxts/UTTMog1ebcIh2dn1CHmJ7XsEHMvwHuMAQCLcBGAs/s320/ac3139_1e013572811644f38353bad68d472322%257Emv2_d_3000_3000_s_4_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> This is the second time you recorded with your cousin, right?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> Well, we’ve worked together a lot over the years on different things, but yes, this is the second time we’ve actually released “music."<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I have to say Harland is one of my favorite comedians ever. You known him all your life, so I have to ask, has he always been funny and off the wall?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> Harland has always been Harland. We shared an apartment in the eighties. He was starting standup comedy at that time and I would film his sets. We’d watch back and he’d make notes about how he could improve different aspects of his act. So... yes, he always had that raw talent, but he worked really hard at honing his craft over the years, and now when I see him perform, I am watching a master.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, whose idea was it to originally start a band out of you two?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> Well, I was already a musician and in a band. When we lived together we would often make stuff together, go out and film a silly movie, or jam and make up songs. That’s something we continued to do. As the years went by we had a growing pile of songs, or song ideas that we enjoyed listening to. Harland was always saying, “Kev... we’ve gotta make a record!” So I told him, "Okay... for 2017 I am going to make it happen.” So I finished up some of the existing ideas and we recorded a few brand new ones as well.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I love the album "Rattlesnake Love," Kev. Harland has a really good singing voice. He is the songwriter and you write the music, am I right?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> Well, we both write the songs (that make the whole world sing). All of the ideas are born through us improvising in a room together. He generally writes all the lyrics.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I didn't know what to expect from the album at all, being Harland is a very funny guy. Would you say the album is more serious in nature or more humorous?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> It is a mix of both. Even when Har tries to be serious I think he puts things in a way that can come off as humorous. He didn’t want to make a “comedy record." And I, working with the funniest human I know, naturally wanted to make weird funny songs. So I think we ended up in a weird halfway kind of place that reminds me a little of Ween or something along those lines. It is all executed seriously. I really enjoyed playing it for people and watching them squirming, waiting to laugh, and then they realize that it’s not just straight up comedy and so they laugh harder, realizing that it’s weird, catchy and interesting on a few different levels.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You have a guest singer on the title track... Carole Pope. Did you know her prior, Kevin?<br /><br /><b>Kevin: </b>I did a celebration of Lou Reed concert with the CBC in 2014. Carole sang an incredible version of "Waiting For My Man." Thats where we first met. If you don’t know her work check it out. Her band Rough Trade made a classic record called "Avoid Freud" which is one of Harland’s all time favourite records.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Who else plays on the album with you?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> Oh man. Because the songs were recorded over the years there are a number of cool different configurations. A couple of the songs have the Barenaked Ladies as the backing band and backup vocals. Some are done with my band Thinbuckle. Blaise Garza from the Violent Femmes plays flute on the title track. My friend Maia Davies does some backup singing.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I love the song "The Clown." What's the story about the song?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> That’s a song from a musical Harland and I talked about doing called "The Clown." It is basically about the inner struggles and the tragic end of a comedian’s life. The song was written many years ago, but took on some extra weight for Harland after Robin William’s death. So we decided to finish it off, so to speak.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I also love the title song, how did that sing get to be the album title?<br /><br /><b>Kevin: </b>Harland really liked the term "Rattlesnake Love," which he came up with for the song. It seemed like a good fit. I suggested it be the title and Har said, "Yes!" And that was it. Very easy.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>"Tropical Horizon" is one of my favorite songs on the album, it's just a sweet song, and what great vocals. I want to say that was you singing, am I right?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> I am singing in the choruses yes, along with Maia.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Are you guys gonna be recording again together in the future?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> We hope to make something new this year yes. A punk rock record.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Fantastic! Alright, before we talk about the new BNL album I have to mention the album that came out last year with Persuasions. I love that album. How did that project come to be, Kev?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> The Persuasions and I had a mutual friend in Lou. I met them at his memorial concert at The Apollo. I was working on a (as yet unreleased) medley of super hero themed songs. They sang one of the sections of it. We had fun doing it and decided to try and do more together, When BNL played in central Park in 2016 The Persuasions joined us on stage for two songs. We then planned to go into a studio together and record something. I’d been expressing interest in doing a stripped down record with BNL for a while, and this seemed like a very cool way to make it fun, exciting and a little different.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> For readers that don't know tell the readers who The Persuasions are.<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> They are considered THE acapella group. They were formed in Brooklyn in 1962. Lou Reed took them on tour with him in the 70s. They worked with many people including Lou, Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell, &nbsp;etc, etc. Over time they have had some personnel changes, but at the heart of the group were original members Jay Otis Washington and Jimmy Hayes, who named the group.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I love that the album had a mix of newer and older songs. Was it hard to figure out which songs you guys were gonna rerecord?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> It <i>was</i> fun. I listened through the entire catalogue, listening for songs which could work in that context. I sent this “wish list" to lead singer and arranger Dave Revels. We all narrowed it down from there. Dave would send me phone voice memos of the Persuasions rehearsals. They made my day every time.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> "Gonna Walk" and "Don't Shuffle Me Back" both gave me chills when I first heard those tracks. Was there any song that you guys thought was too hard to do with the added singers?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> Thank you. "Gonna Walk" was a natural fit. "Don’t Shuffle Me Back" is a song from my solo record "Cloud Maintenance" that I just knew had to be included. One of my favourite memories was in the studio, while rehearsing that song, Jimmy Hayes said, “ Kevin, I’d really like to sing that third verse." I was elated! It’s the verse that goes “When I’m feeling blue, I pick up a shoe, pretend it’s a telephone, and that I’m talking to you." It’s one of those things that makes me smile every time I hear it.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Awe. Okay, let's talk about "Fake Nudes." I LOVE puns, so I love that name. Which one of you guys came up with it?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> That’s a classic Ed Robertson idea right there.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I love that you get to sing quite a few songs on the album, Kev. How do you chose who is gonna have the most songs, or who sings what?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> In the past Ed or Steve would usually sing my songs (like "The Sound of Your Voice" or "Adrift" for instance), but now we all usually sing our own songs. I haven't had this many songs on a record since our "Snacktime" record. I had a few good songs on the go when it was time to start working on "Fake Nudes," so that's the way the cookie crumbled this time.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, do you guys all bring your own songs to the band or do you all write together now?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Kevin: </b>Typically we bring our own songs in. I collaborated with Ed on three "Fake Nude" songs ("Navigate," "Sunshine," and "Nobody Better") which was cool. We all work well together when it comes down to fine tuning the structures of each song.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I think I can figure out who writes what songs... you have more whimsical lyrics, and Ed has more poppy and life is great lyrics. Is that a fair assessment?<br /><br /><b>Kevin: </b>Well, he has a great life. Ha. I don’t know. Perhaps on this record &nbsp;you may have a point there if you compare his "Lookin' Up" to my "Flying Dreams." But then you take a look at his song "Sunshine" &nbsp; and your theory goes to shit. Ha ha.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Ha! Okay. "Invisible Fence" is such a great song... that song is a sly reference to Trump's "wall," am I right?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> There is a nod to it, yes. But the song is not really about him, or politics. It’s more about denouncing racism in general and sending out a positive message.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Did you guys plan to have a more serious political overtone nudge nudge wink wink feel to this album?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> No, we didn’t. But I think that current events usually find their way into our writing. I think you’ll find that on all of our records.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> "Lookin' Up" I think should be the next big summer jam... I love that song. It's very positive, and very complex musically. When you write and record a song like that do you guys think how the hell are you gonna do that live or does that not even faze you guys?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> If it’s a decent song, it should be able to work around a campfire with an acoustic guitar. And so we adjust accordingly.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Is there any song you recorded over the years that you thought you guys could never pull off live?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b>&nbsp;"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" with Sarah Maclaclan. Ed keeps introducing her and then she is never there. It’s sad really.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Haha. "Bag of Bones" is another great song, Kev, that you sing. What is the story behind that song?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> I don’t know! I came up with the main little riff, “Big dogs barking dogs biting dogs,"... and went from there.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, you guys are gonna go out on a new summer tour, I plan to see you guys in St. Augustine. Is touring something you look forward to still?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> I do enjoy the shows and seeing the country. In St Augustine I always like going to the alligator farm. They have an albino alligator there who is really cool. I met a very racist man in a leather goods shop there. He also inspired the "Invisble Fence" song.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>You are such a great writer and artist, and very imaginative... have you ever thought of writing a novel or an autobiography, Kev?<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> Thank you. I’m planning on doing a book with my drawings in it.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Cool. I love your drawings. By the way, the last album was funded through Pledgemusic, as well as the album before that... I got the CD, socks, and t-shirt so I did my part. Is that something you guys will continue doing from project to project? I think it's a great idea for the fans to be a part of it.<br /><br /><b>Kevin: </b>Well, if you need new socks let us know, and that will be the way we do it.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, I was thinking, you guys play so many instruments on the albums, you especially, but I don't think there's been any kazoo on a BNL song. I happen to play the kazoo, so if you ever need a fifth member that plays kazoo... hahahaha. Anyway, Kev, thanks so much for being back on the Phile. I wish you guys continued success. You know, and my readers know, BNL is my favorite band. Mention your website and I'll see you guys on the road. Take care.<br /><br /><b>Kevin:</b> Well, you’d better go practice your kazoo and bring it to St Augustine. We’ll take you to the alligator farm and see if they enjoy a little Jason kazoo. Check out my instagram page kevinhearnmusic. I’m also on Soundcloud. Check out how The Cousins work and more at <a href="http://facebook.com/TheCousinsBand88/videos/1222386051191189/">facebook.com/TheCousinsBand88/videos/1222386051191189/</a> and don’t forget to Google Barenaked Ladies "Fake Nudes" to check out our new record. Have a great 2018, Jason ! Thanks for your thoughtful questions, minus the kazoo one.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You are so welcome. Haha. Come back again soon.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AhvVY3ij9SY/WmEpcHwL4wI/AAAAAAAAxt8/E5THH3oGM3McJp6p5NJ--kQ0KWDvtAp-gCLcBGAs/s1600/41GmS89dFuL._SS500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AhvVY3ij9SY/WmEpcHwL4wI/AAAAAAAAxt8/E5THH3oGM3McJp6p5NJ--kQ0KWDvtAp-gCLcBGAs/s320/41GmS89dFuL._SS500.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />That about does it foe this entry of the Phile. Thanks to my guests Jeff Trelewicz and of course Kevin Hearn. The Phile will be back Sunday with singer Taylor Mac. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k9ZUxykZzfo/WmEqdGfeDQI/AAAAAAAAxuI/BtGY4oKl6A4RzSqqak0VpgTNE2GK3_dGACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8e6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="725" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k9ZUxykZzfo/WmEqdGfeDQI/AAAAAAAAxuI/BtGY4oKl6A4RzSqqak0VpgTNE2GK3_dGACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8e6.jpeg" width="382" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="post-footer" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"></div><br /><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1011542653943805414" itemprop="description articleBody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; orphans: auto; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; width: 586px; word-spacing: 0px;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i><br /><div style="clear: both;"></div></div>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-10115426539438054142018-01-15T13:07:00.001-05:002018-01-15T13:07:52.750-05:00Pheaturing Oleta Adams<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dWVUldM0Sk8/WlzEuTDueMI/AAAAAAAAxkQ/C_-GFNFkSa86vabKjlyqGMmKROSVrH40ACLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dWVUldM0Sk8/WlzEuTDueMI/AAAAAAAAxkQ/C_-GFNFkSa86vabKjlyqGMmKROSVrH40ACLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hi</b>, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Monday and Happy MLK Day. We must not judge people by the color of their skin but by heir annoying personalities. MLK would wonder why kids who really need an education are given a day off to honor him. Think about that.<br /><b>Today</b> <i>is</i> Martin Luther King Day, an important day to reflect on and honor the legacy of the civil rights hero by... *record scratch*... jerking off? Everyone recognizes Google Doodles, the search engine marking important birthdays and holidays on its homepage with artistic tributes. And today, Pornhub decided to get in on the action with a special tribute to the birthday boy, the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eMnEn5_fpHI/WlzUjPT6lTI/AAAAAAAAxms/P9MeLjdPWpYjbgwQ8cFAJKHeHQInDBOMwCLcBGAs/s1600/slack-imgs-xfW5S4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="1000" height="110" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eMnEn5_fpHI/WlzUjPT6lTI/AAAAAAAAxms/P9MeLjdPWpYjbgwQ8cFAJKHeHQInDBOMwCLcBGAs/s320/slack-imgs-xfW5S4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Being side-eyed by MLK can certainly impact someone trying to get in the mood. And naturally, the "I Have A Dream" jokes write themselves. I have a wet dream. When I go on Pornhub tomorrow I shall... overcum. Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, porn is free at last.<br /><b>The</b> artist and political activist Robin Bell projected the word "shithole" onto Trump's D.C. hotel on Saturday night, and it made waves. The display included a stream of flying poop emojis and also projected the phrase "the president distracts us from politics that are harming us," as well as "this is not normal" and messages to "stay vigilante." The artist behind the graphics is the founder of the video projection Bell Visuals, which is committed to using video as a tool for social change. Bell previously made headlines for projecting the motto "Pay Trump Bribes Here" onto Trump's same D.C. hotel back in May. In that same month, Bell also projected "#SessionsMustGo" and "I thought the KKK was OK until I learned that they smoked pot" onto the Department of Justice building in protest of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8wBnomPlyaY/WlzIG7150_I/AAAAAAAAxk4/UxNi9kaPn9UnYBO7rBP_cCEy8DoliG8tACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-15%2Bat%2B10.25.28%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="499" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8wBnomPlyaY/WlzIG7150_I/AAAAAAAAxk4/UxNi9kaPn9UnYBO7rBP_cCEy8DoliG8tACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-15%2Bat%2B10.25.28%2BAM.png" width="296" /></a></div><br />The "shithole" projection was directly inspired by Trump's comments during a meeting with senators on Thursday, where he called Haiti and African countries shithole nations and disparaged immigrants coming from those places. While the White House didn't deny the president's shithole comments initially, Trump later denied them on Twitter, saying...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T1cnaPViiNI/WlzI0Dq4diI/AAAAAAAAxlA/gyvuWtAHjQMLHdKbTUj0Mx0_OFVU0g6MACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-15%2Bat%2B10.28.54%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="236" data-original-width="491" height="191" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T1cnaPViiNI/WlzI0Dq4diI/AAAAAAAAxlA/gyvuWtAHjQMLHdKbTUj0Mx0_OFVU0g6MACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-15%2Bat%2B10.28.54%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>The</b> United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) leader Henry Bolton is currently suspended due to a series of racist texts sent by his 25-year-old girlfriend Jo Marney. The texts published by "Daily Mail" reveal Marney slamming actress and soon-to-be royalty Meghan Markle under claims that she will "taint" the royal family and pave the way for "a black king." UKIP immediately suspended Marney from the party after the racist texts leaked. According to BBC, some members of the party have called for her permanent removal. Due to his girlfriend's behavior, Bolton is currently facing a big decision about his future. In reference to the ultimatum between his girlfriend and political party, UKIP chairman Paul Oakden told BBC that Bolton has "some some difficult decisions to make." He added, "He intends on making those decisions today, and I'm sure whatever he does will be in the best interests of the party." In a statement to "Daily Mail," Marney expressed regret for the language in her text messages and attempted to clarify her intentions. "I apologise unreservedly for the shocking language I used. The opinions I expressed were deliberately exaggerated in order to make a point and have, to an extent, been taken out of context. Yet I fully recognise the offence they have caused." Understandably, people are not too convinced by her apology. It is speculated that Bolton's position in the party is dependent on whether he keeps ties with Marney, a decision that's expected to be made in coming days. He already received fire for leaving his 54-year-old wife for the 25-year-old model. At the time of writing, neither Markle nor Prince Harry have responded to this mess. <br /><b>School</b> spirit looks different depending on the college, and for Texas Tech students solidarity is expressed through the slogan "Wreck em and guns" and a finger gun motion. In most scenarios, yelling this at a classmate would be nothing more than awkward for bystanders. However, in the context of airport TSA screenings, the reference to weapons is markedly less casual. So, when 19-year-old Diana Durkin of Houston saw a guy wearing a Texas Tech sweatshirt in the TSA line, she threw up the school's gun sign out of habit. The guy, who was likely acutely aware of the airport context, gave her a strange look and did not reciprocate. Soon, she felt the tap of a TSA agent who pulled her out of line for the reference to guns. Durkin told Buzzfeed News that once she got pulled aside she was thinking, "Oh my gosh, they think I'm a terrorist. Oh my gosh I'm going to jail. I'm just sitting there, almost in tears, like, 'No, I'm just really dumb, I'm not a terrorist!" Despite the scare, Durkin was released with a warning after a thorough screening and pat down. When she tweeted about the occurrence, her anecdote immediately went viral. In fact, the rapid Twitter fame caused Durkin to call her mother to fill her in. She didn't want mom to find out through an article, and apparently, her mom didn't take too well to the call at first.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1RRKMByEqm0/WlzL2veFjsI/AAAAAAAAxlM/pcsjjtmdsDoj0R3YJczINSzQymDYmF-9wCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-15%2Bat%2B10.41.50%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="494" height="260" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1RRKMByEqm0/WlzL2veFjsI/AAAAAAAAxlM/pcsjjtmdsDoj0R3YJczINSzQymDYmF-9wCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-15%2Bat%2B10.41.50%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />She also used the opportunity to boost support for survivors of Hurricane Harvey and Maria. This hits especially close to home since her family was affected by Harvey. After the initial shock wore off, Durkin's mom felt ready for the Internet attention. Next time Durkin hits up the airport, she will check her school spirit with her bags.<br /><b>Hey</b>, it's MLK Day and some places over the years sure knew how to "cash in" on that.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FS-7B7mc2B4/WlzNX7grouI/AAAAAAAAxlc/i01S2nhMzqA1nH9uT3SfeZRPQKamDDJRgCLcBGAs/s1600/4f0e14f5ba6e8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="600" height="268" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FS-7B7mc2B4/WlzNX7grouI/AAAAAAAAxlc/i01S2nhMzqA1nH9uT3SfeZRPQKamDDJRgCLcBGAs/s400/4f0e14f5ba6e8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />If I had a TARDIS I would go back in time to try and meet MLK himself. But knowing my luck Harry Belafonte would be there too. I'm not &nbsp;big fan. Hahaha,<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wir8w4y4UCs/WlzQT09J6eI/AAAAAAAAxmE/813KUoJNva0prGl-hCPLt_3tvrl3ZogTgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8b1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="675" height="323" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wir8w4y4UCs/WlzQT09J6eI/AAAAAAAAxmE/813KUoJNva0prGl-hCPLt_3tvrl3ZogTgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8b1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />They would be laughing and having such good time they might even notice I was there. So, I was meant to Google "John Lennon" the other day and instead I Googled "John Lemon" and this is what I got...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qiImz4X3efQ/WlzOMgYUAAI/AAAAAAAAxlo/nJRi5LyWNsAjvm64yhsXukwBFIhkgdLaACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8ac.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="1256" height="221" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qiImz4X3efQ/WlzOMgYUAAI/AAAAAAAAxlo/nJRi5LyWNsAjvm64yhsXukwBFIhkgdLaACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8ac.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />It made me laugh. If you're thinking about cheating on your loved one you might want to think twice after seeing this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9zTbjVJ4QO0/WlzOlo7DKLI/AAAAAAAAxls/BECdzqAkYtA-tZTfm-2vJkRv7qvCOrv6wCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_5ea.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="880" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9zTbjVJ4QO0/WlzOlo7DKLI/AAAAAAAAxls/BECdzqAkYtA-tZTfm-2vJkRv7qvCOrv6wCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_5ea.jpeg" width="272" /></a></div><br />Damn. So, it's so cold up north that CNN is reporting some of the oddest stuff...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3ULakArZRb0/WlzPV9H_idI/AAAAAAAAxl4/3Yhzpl9JkQQE6AlaABSGfDhg0s_Fs7x6QCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2992.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="700" height="263" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3ULakArZRb0/WlzPV9H_idI/AAAAAAAAxl4/3Yhzpl9JkQQE6AlaABSGfDhg0s_Fs7x6QCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2992.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hahahaha. I was thinking about <i>The Last Jedi</i> the other day and I thought of the new look Kylo Ten had in the movie...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ADtc6u7ED78/WlzSYG7kPII/AAAAAAAAxmQ/iFSXdtgPKngSBW9HS9q83Cm0GjQF7_2BgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1256" data-original-width="1280" height="314" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ADtc6u7ED78/WlzSYG7kPII/AAAAAAAAxmQ/iFSXdtgPKngSBW9HS9q83Cm0GjQF7_2BgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_2746.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />I didn't think it fit in with the <i>Star Wars</i> universe. Okay, so, this is the Phile's 12th year and I am showing you how different celebrities have changed in those years. In 2006 Jonah Hill was large...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CM96oEjEwpY/WlzTqLR_H2I/AAAAAAAAxmg/jr3zVEV2nFECS3jU22r7W5Bz7d_up6f0wCLcBGAs/s1600/shutterstock95334874-vQTPVg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CM96oEjEwpY/WlzTqLR_H2I/AAAAAAAAxmg/jr3zVEV2nFECS3jU22r7W5Bz7d_up6f0wCLcBGAs/s320/shutterstock95334874-vQTPVg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />In 2018 he was no so large...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--XMmHfbA3Zk/WlzTwO1BDEI/AAAAAAAAxmk/W3o_JbY82dsebwvt4S3MlyehyLWRkv1aACLcBGAs/s1600/jonah-hill-YMcyz0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--XMmHfbA3Zk/WlzTwO1BDEI/AAAAAAAAxmk/W3o_JbY82dsebwvt4S3MlyehyLWRkv1aACLcBGAs/s320/jonah-hill-YMcyz0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Crazy, right? Okay, one of the best things about the Internet is you can look at porn for free, lie on the already mentioned Pornhub. But the problem for bloggers like me is you might get bored reading this blog and decide to go look at porn. So I thought I can show a porn pic here but of you are at work, or school you might get in trouble. Then I came up with a solution...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t2_iZRBEfnc/Wlzf1vvS47I/AAAAAAAAxnk/UNMIBXRi-l4XuzOPCXuf0-EOd6BHo9MmgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8aa.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="592" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t2_iZRBEfnc/Wlzf1vvS47I/AAAAAAAAxnk/UNMIBXRi-l4XuzOPCXuf0-EOd6BHo9MmgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8aa.jpeg" width="390" /></a></div><br />You are so welcome, my friends. Hahaha.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FY2OZoutMeM/WlzXO3tM9WI/AAAAAAAAxm8/fJKh4TrRyxoytGrzkvU-sjnZkS9RjkffwCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FY2OZoutMeM/WlzXO3tM9WI/AAAAAAAAxm8/fJKh4TrRyxoytGrzkvU-sjnZkS9RjkffwCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8NMFUbEwyLw/WlzYpgsF-wI/AAAAAAAAxnI/nOIdlqE7phABArRO1-eeCNoEdLKAExNNQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8b8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="679" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8NMFUbEwyLw/WlzYpgsF-wI/AAAAAAAAxnI/nOIdlqE7phABArRO1-eeCNoEdLKAExNNQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8b8.jpeg" width="357" /></a></div><br />Hahaha. If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, so, there's a lot of crazy inventors out there in the world, but there's only one world's greatest, and he just happens to want to come onto the Phile and tell us what are some of the inventions he is working on. This is a real treat, kids. Please welcome to the Phile for the first time...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4RIzUd8iB-E/Wlzdcam2KJI/AAAAAAAAxnY/PBlUvlxL6q4ENT5K0nmKUzKBgcTlEUpFwCLcBGAs/s1600/kFUop1516036344.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="660" height="261" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4RIzUd8iB-E/Wlzdcam2KJI/AAAAAAAAxnY/PBlUvlxL6q4ENT5K0nmKUzKBgcTlEUpFwCLcBGAs/s400/kFUop1516036344.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hello, Mr. Asterborus, welcome to the Phile, sir. How are you?<br /><br /><b>Mak: </b>Call me Mak, please, and I am good, Jason.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, you are working on a few new inventions but what is something you have already invented that we might not know about?<br /><br /><b>Mak:</b> Ummm.... Justin Bieber was one.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Sir, I don't think you created Justin Bieber.<br /><br /><b>Mak:</b> Sure I did. <br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay, if yo say so. What's another one?<br /><br /><b>Mak: </b>Religion.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Again, sir, I don't think you created religion. If you did same on you, but religion has been around for a long time. What's another one?<br /><br /><b>Mak:</b> My wife. <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, I don't know who that is but I take it that might be true. So, what is your latest invention, Mak?<br /><br /><b>Mak: </b>A book on how to read.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Ugh. Get outta here.<br /><br /><b>Mak:</b> Have a good day, kids.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Mak Asterborus, the world's greatest inventor, everyone.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fj3G74ACKyA/WlziVOXJiuI/AAAAAAAAxn8/F0hfYGXVGZMdxAB5x-C4VUr_UONff7piQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="318" height="264" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fj3G74ACKyA/WlziVOXJiuI/AAAAAAAAxn8/F0hfYGXVGZMdxAB5x-C4VUr_UONff7piQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />There was a joke about fishing I was going to tell you. Oh no, I forgot the line!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dmOsg7i8XTw/Wlzij_h7vAI/AAAAAAAAxoA/Zprls1GAOPk-ipebYllkdpOCoPq5C0e5ACLcBGAs/s1600/yoursign-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dmOsg7i8XTw/Wlzij_h7vAI/AAAAAAAAxoA/Zprls1GAOPk-ipebYllkdpOCoPq5C0e5ACLcBGAs/s400/yoursign-41.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />The 73rd book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z0XpXZVDahE/Wlzi1LVkZfI/AAAAAAAAxoI/y0t3p79bcHcY2066bXHU0T6ZHjkZsK_ngCLcBGAs/s1600/51VAGhHprzL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z0XpXZVDahE/Wlzi1LVkZfI/AAAAAAAAxoI/y0t3p79bcHcY2066bXHU0T6ZHjkZsK_ngCLcBGAs/s320/51VAGhHprzL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />Linda will be the guest on the Phile next Monday.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XoZpvxwbZAQ/WlzkJkMqRvI/AAAAAAAAxoU/enLFe6uV8qk6MQlTTVh8NBEXEurLamghQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8c5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="300" height="376" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XoZpvxwbZAQ/WlzkJkMqRvI/AAAAAAAAxoU/enLFe6uV8qk6MQlTTVh8NBEXEurLamghQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8c5.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today's guest is a is an American soul, jazz, gospel singer and pianist. Her latest CD "Third Set" is available on iTunes and Amazon. Please welcome to the Phile... Oleta Adams.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EtJBsyHvhQQ/WlzkdYNcgMI/AAAAAAAAxoY/OkBCCxWoNi8BaLb9-7UlHuLpYxgWxS5oQCLcBGAs/s1600/25443202_937703416382951_5851146178897132507_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="750" height="317" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EtJBsyHvhQQ/WlzkdYNcgMI/AAAAAAAAxoY/OkBCCxWoNi8BaLb9-7UlHuLpYxgWxS5oQCLcBGAs/s320/25443202_937703416382951_5851146178897132507_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hey, Oleta, welcome to the Phile. How are you?<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> Hi, Jason. I am wonderful.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Cool. Okay, you have been a musician for a long time, but Tears For Fears kinda discovered you, am I right?<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> Well, let's see... If you want to talk about the lowest of lows it became before Tears For Fears. Understand that 2018 is my 47th year in show business. Everyone thinks I'm an overnight thing and I only had twenty years... that's not quite true. I've been working since '71 professionally and I worked all across the United States. I worked all over the state of Washington. In fact, I thought things would happen to me in the early 70s when I was the only singer for the Peggy Fleming show, A Concert On Ice is what it was called. It was a traveling skating show obviously and they had quite a few trucks because they would go and set up the next stage for the next performance. We traveled for a year basically and I had golf shoes to be able to walk on the ice so I didn't fall down. I thought things would happen for me in '73 when we played Reno, and I finally played there, but what happened was I got to Reno and the show there had to be a certain amount of time in the show places as they wanted to get everybody back into the casinos. So, they cut my parts in the show except for the opening and the closing, It was a night where Ed McMahon was there and some other people. Phylis Diller was the head of the show... she took the first half and Peggy Fleming took the other. It was really heartbreaking and I was very upset and very embarrassed. I didn't want to tell my family what had happened.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Ahhh.&nbsp;How did you end up in Kansas City, Oleta?<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> In 1975 I landed in Kansas City, and got a permanent gig at the Western Crown Center, and there were long lines. I did three shows a night, six days week. I would change clothes between each set and it was hard work, but I learnt my craft very well. I was very successful in Kansas City, and there were billboards up with me on it. Well, a few years after that, when the Crown Western wouldn't have me anymore, as they wanted REAL jazz. So, I went to Tulsa, Oklahoma and all over the country to try and find work.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Did you have to audition when you got new jobs?<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> No, no, no. I lived in Washington State and the agent placed me. I was performing at another hotel and the food and beverage manager heard me back in 1974 at another one of their properties and they liked me so much they asked me if I'd go back to Kansas City. People said to me, "I heard you're going to Kansas City. They've got cows in the streets back there." No cows! Instead we went down Main Street from the airport and we got downtown and there were all these tall buildings and there was one incredible building that was built on this natural water fall that was a hotel. It was relative new and in the waterfall you could see the inside of the lobby.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, tell me how Tears For Fears "discovered" you. How did you meet them?<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> After I got fired from the Crown Center hotel I went over to a Hyatt and that's where Tears For Fears saw me in '85. Tears For Fears was playing in town and they stayed at the Hyatt. They did their gig, went up to their room, and I played from 9 til 1. They changed their clothes, paid the cover charge and they sat there listening to me. But I did not meet them, but knew they were there as John, my future then husband told me they were there.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Did you know who they were, and how did you get to work with them?<br /><br /><b>Oleta: </b>Yeah, I knew who they were! Everybody knew "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." Roland to me looked like a guy who looked like Donny Osmond with all teeth. John asked me if I wanted to say hi to them and I said no. I knew the Hyatt was going to get rid of me because the food and beverage manager who hired me was promoted to a hotel in Korea or somewhere in Asia. That meant it was the end of my stay even though I had a contract that was still on the books. When the new guy came in all contracts were null and void. So, anyway, I did not meet them there on that night, I was just playing my heart out. There were fewer and fewer places to play in Kansas City at that time because disco came in and audiences changed from listening audiences to participating audiences. Two years later after I had gone from losing that job and then having to leave Kansas City to get work, I went to play at a piano bar in St. Louis in Union Station. There was this lady there who said to me, "You'e good. You're almost as good as Oleta Adams." She didn't recognize me as it was just me at the piano and I didn't have the bass and drums with me. Then a guy said to me, "I see they have you here, what did they do with your bass and drums?" Then I did a duo with the drummer in St. Louis at another place. It was in '86 and I think it was the Cardinals were in the World Series and people were watching the TV in the bar, and before my set the manager would say, "Turn off the television." I wasn't going to turn off the television on the middle of the Series. That was always fun, performing while everybody was looking over your head watching a baseball game. So, two years later I got a phone call when I was back in Kansas City from Roland Orzabal and he said everything I sang that one night moved him to tears and he said what I had with a trio we had more emotion than he had with eight people on stage and he had a song called "Woman In Chains" and wondered if I'd put the same emotion into that song. They kept on coming to see me weeks after, and I kept asking them if they are on the way to another gig and they said no.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Alright, so, what did you think of those guys, Oleta? They must of been nice to you.<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> Yes, they were, in fact Curt told the customs and immigration people when they were coming over from England what is the reason they were going to the states, and he said, "We are going to see Oleta." They hung around for about three days and they came to my house and we sat and talked, played music and I sang at the piano in my house, and they'd sing something. We went to the record store and they bought one of my records and I bought a couple of their records. That was the beginning. That was in '87 and in '88 they sent me a ticket and I went and recorded with them. I worked at a piano bar in Scandinavia for 7 months and went all over Scandinavia and Holland. I recorded for a full month in January, I did my tour alone, and they found out where I was and called me, asking me to stop by England before I went home to do some more work on the record.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, did you go on tour with Tears For Fears? They must've felt weird after playing the venues where you played before.<br /><br /><b>Oleta: </b>I lived a lot and with as many disappointments I thought this probably won't last but thank you, Lord, I have this moment. It was still performing, I loved all the big bands, all the sounds and it was loud. We worked very hard and it was very exciting starting the show. I started the show on a grand piano three feet in the air and then the guys would join me.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>That's cool. Okay, so, I think around this time they broke up. Was there any tension between them on the tour?<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> Okay, this question is funny to me. Yeah, there was tension. On the tour bus they made me chose... the back was Curt's area, the front of the bus was Rol's. I kind of sat in the middle but it was towards the front. I loved them both, and tried to tell them I loved them both. It was a sticky situation because I got a lot of attention, they placed a lot of attention on me and Roland because he was a creative person. However, I have to say Curt was involved also but when it came to actually putting stuff down it was Roland. I stayed with Curt and his first wife at his home in Bath. It was absolutely unbelievable and they were so generous to me and they treated me like I was one of their family. He was so sweet and he's a smart cookie. Curt was the business guy, Roland <i>wasn't</i> the business guy. Curt could work for a record company if he wanted. Roland was the musical side but they are both just smart individuals. It was a good pairing but the only thing was it came to a point that when you grow up together from childhood you kind of get sick of one another. That's very natural, but they were great, their voices were balanced.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, enough about Tears For Fears. After that whole thing you had your own success with your own album and the single "Get Here." You must of been thrilled.<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> Nah, it felt pretty much the same. When people were flipping out about me I was home and didn't hear it. I often sit and read this stuff and read the comments and think, "God, it's too bad I missed this stuff." I never felt like a story even when I sold out. That was the way it goes, the place is full, we sold out, and then I hung on.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay, that's fair. So, you are from Kansas City, do you still live there, Oleta?<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> Yeah, I live in a small town... actually, it's a big town but doesn't know it's a big town. It has a small town feeling. I love living here In Kansas City, which is why I don't live in L.A. I always wanted to live somewhere where my feet are on the ground, and if something happened I wouldn't have far to fall.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>That makes sense. Okay, so, what's the story about the song "Get Here." Where's here?<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> "Get Here" had its success because of Desert Storm as it came out at that time. It put me in a total different category and put me on a tight rope. It wasn't a song for people to dance to. For me I wanted to sing another ballad. I wanted to express myself, I lived so long and wanted to sing what I wanted to say. Get where? Get to me!<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You were on the "Two Rooms" Elton John album and did a fantastic version of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me." How did you get chosen for that album and was it fun to do that song? It's weird, because it's an album of duets but you're not doing a duet with Elton.<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> Interestingly enough I had to fight for that song because I tried to do "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," but my bass player, Pino Palladino, HATED that song, so I thought what song was I going to do then. Somebody said, "Well, Joe Cocker has 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me.'" I fought for that song, I <i>wanted</i> that song, I've sung it before. They went to battle for me and I got that song. It was supposed to be the first release off that album, and a couple of weeks later one of my players said, "Ms. Oleta, Elton John and George Michael put out their version of the song." I said, "What?!" That happened at the same time and because it was George Michael and Elton of course they got more play on more stations, because a voice like mine is going to be limited. Number one I'm a black woman, and number 2: I got a really thick big voice and despite I am known for "Get Here," guess who is going to get more air play. Elton and I did an Andre Agassi event in Las Vegas for his foundation and Elton's dressing room was right next to mine and there was a knock on my door and my husband answered the door and Elton said, "May I speak to Oleta? Do you think she'll speak to me?" John said, "Elton's out here, he wants to know if you'll speak to him." He came in and said, "Oleta, I want to apologize to you. I know that was a really mean thing to do. I just want to tell you I know it wasn't fair, I'm sorry." I said, "You're forgiven." Here's the thing, that year both of us got nominated for Grammys in different categories for that same song. Neither of us won. LOL.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, we have to talk about "Third Set," your new album. Why is it called "Third Set"?<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> I used to do three shows, six days a week. That's a lot of singing and it's really hard to keep the excitement. After a while I decided when I'm playing a hotel I know who the audience is so I had to do all the popular stuff. In those days it was "Wind Beneath My Wings," and "New York, New York," and "Feelings"... all that stuff like that. I did all those popular songs for the first two sets. The third, if there was anybody there at that time, the third set became <i>our</i> set... the musicians set where we did the stuff we felt like doing. It was the most creative set because we weren't pressured in doing what we didn't want to do. We had the freedom to play music and explore it as long as we wanted. I pretty much did that throughout my career, made the third set just fun for the musicians. It was in that set the arrangement of "New York State of Mind" developed. In fact, "Get Here" ended up in the third set, it used to be in the first set but we had to do a shorter version of it. In the third set I could sing to for twenty minutes. LOL.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>What took you eight years to release a new album?<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> I don't know where the time went. Time flies. John and I don't have children so for us when you are just playing it just goes by so quickly. In those eight years the whole business changed. If you closed down as many record companies as I have your feeling is "I ain't going to throw more money at that thing." LOL. That was my attitude, then do you know what happened... places that I play ever year the manager or the guy who would book that place would say, "Oleta, you need a new record." What that means is the only way they were going to get the kind of publicity they want to get is if I do a new record. Their whole thing is the excitement of the record creates the spark so it would put me in the limelight and it brings out a whole new group of people. I just kind of felt I am growing older and I wasn't sure how long I wanted to do this. After a certain time I started to think of that "R" word... retirement. Although musicians rarely retire but it's the travel part I want to retire from, which mans I wouldn't stop singing, but all that traveling around really gets to me. My husband and I think do we really want to do this until I'm 85 and we quit and suddenly we die or do we want to have a few good years left?<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>How long did it take to record the album?<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> Two and a half days. Seriously. The studio where we recorded it is no longer there. We were the last ones to record in that place.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>There are covers on the album, were they songs you did in your third set normally?<br /><br /><b>Oleta: </b>They're from shows we were doing in the last year.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, I like asking these questions once in awhile... do you have regrets and your best memory?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Oleta: </b>I have gobs of those moments, just remembering them is the problem. As far as regrets there are always decisions that you did that could be done differently. I turned down "The Circle of Life" from <i>The Lion King</i> and it become the movie of the year. Actually I'm not sure if I turned it down or they turned <i>me</i> down. Remember my first record was called "Circle of One," and I thought it would be too confusing for one thing. If you listen to "Circle of Life," with Elton singing it, he singing it and me singing it would of been two different things and I'm not sure that I would've gotten it anyway because it would sound too soulful for the show. I would have to put a Broadway voice on it, and I'm not sure that would of worked anyway. I did audition for it and I did not get a call back. I'm not sure I had a choice on that but that would be the one regret. Honestly, I would of done it for that extra push, but the stuff that I've done I like. I was told a long time ago to make sure I sing the stuff I like because if not I'd have to sing it over, and over and over again. Ask Bobby McFerrin. LOL. Apart of me wishes I hit the big one sooner and a part of me is glad it did not. I'm glad I was a real adult to be able to handle that success. I see it happens to a lot of these singers. I talked to a lot of them... they're so successful and so sad and I don't want to be sad... I'm happy. I love singing, I love looking forward to the music. If I can have a little bit more I had in 2002 that would be great, but then I'm asking not to age. I had a lot of occasions where we could afford nice vacations for John and me. Obviously being on Oprah's show was just great. I had lunch with her first in probably '93, in her studio in Chicago. There was just the two of us, sitting alone with Oprah was a big deal. I have sung in her own in Santa Barbara for her very first party there. That was a high moment and meant a whole lot that she requested that I sing. By the same token doing a gig somewhere and Eric Clapton was there. As I'm walking down the hallway, he says, "Oleta." He called me by my name and talked to me. "Oleta, that was a horrible thing that Elton did." LOL. That was another way I found out about that, and he knew who I was. It's like wow, these people know who I am, then I go back to Kansas City like nothing ever happened. I got to the chance to play a lot of places like Carnegie Hall. Oh, and Phil Collins. I got the chance to play with him with on his big band tour in '98 in Europe and America. He was really wonderful to work and singing with that bad was great. I will say one more thing before I go... I am forger indebted to my friends in the Netherlands. They always gave me a play even though I didn't have a record.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Those are great stories, Oleta. I hope this was fun. Go ahead and mention your website. All the best. Please come back again soon.<br /><br /><b>Oleta:</b> It was my pleasure to be here, and good luck with your career. <a href="http://oletaadams.com/">Oletaadams.com/</a>. Take care, Jason. <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DJgdsNOXPfk/WlzrwSRR2nI/AAAAAAAAxoo/2ltwE__T8II7bM1V3lf4kGoMZRYA56CJgCLcBGAs/s1600/51GQ-YgrgrL._SS500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DJgdsNOXPfk/WlzrwSRR2nI/AAAAAAAAxoo/2ltwE__T8II7bM1V3lf4kGoMZRYA56CJgCLcBGAs/s320/51GQ-YgrgrL._SS500.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Oleta for a great interview. The Phile will be back on Thursday with Phile Alum Kevin Hearn from Barenaked Ladies. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XIUNiZ98mmc/WlztteDAvWI/AAAAAAAAxo0/gt0RjJAnKnUDFZFRcrSqea2qovS_ldcKgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8c6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="475" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XIUNiZ98mmc/WlztteDAvWI/AAAAAAAAxo0/gt0RjJAnKnUDFZFRcrSqea2qovS_ldcKgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8c6.jpeg" width="280" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-32298395676241990342018-01-14T12:10:00.000-05:002018-01-14T12:10:15.102-05:00Pheaturing Parker Matthews<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aWvwc-MoXtw/Wltsh-bYnhI/AAAAAAAAxfo/TTix-knm2Qk5cYQahKEWO1XQGbYoqsh9gCLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aWvwc-MoXtw/Wltsh-bYnhI/AAAAAAAAxfo/TTix-knm2Qk5cYQahKEWO1XQGbYoqsh9gCLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hey</b> there, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Sunday. How are you doing? So, do I have any readers in Hawaii? I'm sure. Yesterday morning Hawaii residents were terrified by a ballistic missile warning that turned out to be a false alarm, according to officials. "BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL," flashed across people's phones, but the Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard quickly tweeted that it was a false alarm. The Lt. Commander Joe Nawrocki confirmed to BuzzFeed News the warning was a false alarm, adding that he wasn't sure who sent out the message in the first place. "There is no missile threat, We're trying to figure out where this came from or how this started. There is absolutely no incoming ballistic missile threat to Hawaii right now," Nawrocki said. Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency also confirmed the text was a false alarm. "We're in a process of sending another message to cancel the initial message. It was part of a drill that was going on," a spokesperson told Buzzfeed.<br /><b>Earlier</b> this week, H&amp;M apologized for a hoodie ad after they became embroiled in accusations of racism. The ad, showing a young black boy wearing a green hoodie that says, "Coolest monkey in the jungle," quickly received Internet backlash. Whether it was intentional or not (most believe it was intentional), H&amp;M's decision to have the only black child model a sweatshirt bearing the connotations of an ethnic slur did not sit well. In lieu of the ad, outrage towards H&amp;M has cropped up globally. Yesterday, members of the South African social political party the Economic Freedom Fighters protested stores at Johannesburg, Pretoria, and the Clearwater Mall (in Johannesburg). Protesters wore red and danced and sang outside the stores, some carried signs that said "H&amp;M say 'hello' to coolest monkeys" and "away with H&amp;M racist tendencies." While the stores were left trashed, nothing was reported as stolen. While the protests were clearly staged to protest H&amp;M's advertising, some skeptics believed the demonstration was planned to distract from birthday celebrations for the ruling African National Congress party. On Tuesday, H&amp;M issued a formal apology pledging to take down the advertisement and remove the hoodies from their stores. H&amp;M has yet to formally respond to these protests, but if they continue, it seems inevitable.<br /><b>If </b>you've spent any time in public restrooms over the last few decades, you're probably accustomed to using one of these to "dry" your hands...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OPbkNSJqNmA/Wltvq0J1DzI/AAAAAAAAxf0/SR6Jei0yxugUz0cr4i6HVe2X5tBDSGJTACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-14%2Bat%2B9.56.20%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="481" height="311" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OPbkNSJqNmA/Wltvq0J1DzI/AAAAAAAAxf0/SR6Jei0yxugUz0cr4i6HVe2X5tBDSGJTACLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-14%2Bat%2B9.56.20%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Unfortunately, they don't actually dispense bacon, but instead a gentle puff of lukewarm air that seems to take approximately 1.5 hours to work. Someone physically blowing on your hands would be more effective. So, needless to say, hand washers everywhere were pretty psyched when these guys started popping up in public restrooms around the world...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iTqpsB5RFUs/Wltv-mvnxSI/AAAAAAAAxf4/nbinvdQmt9gEs95sSC7kny6VAQM5-ehLgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-14%2Bat%2B9.57.44%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="521" height="296" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iTqpsB5RFUs/Wltv-mvnxSI/AAAAAAAAxf4/nbinvdQmt9gEs95sSC7kny6VAQM5-ehLgCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-14%2Bat%2B9.57.44%2BAM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />If you've ever used one of these fancy high-speed hand dryers, like the Dyson Airblade, you know how satisfying it feels to have the water evaporate from your hands in seconds, like magic. But it turns out, like so many seemingly perfect things in this tricky minefield we call life, these high-speed hand dryers are too good to be true. A U.K. study found that using a "jet-air dryer" can spread 60 times more bacteria than an old-fashioned slow-speed hand dryer, and 1,300 times more bacteria than paper towels. Despite what the above pic would have to believe, this is not "hygienic" in any way, shape or form. Basically, when you stick your hands in one of these "magical" machines, you are showering your hands with hot germs. An experience equivalent to spending 5 minutes in the NYC subway, or 5 seconds in my apartment. Hahaha. Looks like it's back to the ol' reliable method: wiping my hands on my shorts.<br /><b>Tomi</b> Lahren, the political commentator who got her start at Glenn Beck's TheBlaze before accepting her destiny as a contributor to Fox News, predictably weighed in on the "shithole" controversy on Friday. She did so with a rhetorical question, which, if she ever read the Phile, she'd know is a grave mistake.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b-DW8UFhkcc/WltxMgILMdI/AAAAAAAAxgE/XG15dQ8OST050FeBMUPg6BExXFcrB3XyACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-14%2Bat%2B10.02.41%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="494" height="140" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b-DW8UFhkcc/WltxMgILMdI/AAAAAAAAxgE/XG15dQ8OST050FeBMUPg6BExXFcrB3XyACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-14%2Bat%2B10.02.41%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />The thing about a rhetorical question? It always has rhetorical answers. The thing about the Internet? It's always mean. According to "The Washington Post," Trump "grew frustrated" on Thursday as a bipartisan group of lawmakers discussed protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, and some African countries. "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" the president allegedly asked. "We need more people from Norway." The comments were largely interpreted as racist, and the president himself denied using the language described by the "Post." In the last few days the comments have blown up, with the reaction going viral everywhere. Democratic lawmakers rushed to denounce the comments, as have several Republicans. Few conservatives have defended the quote as particularly insightful or as a dignified representation of their views on immigration. So, it begs the question, what was Lahren thinking? Don't answer that.<br /><b>Donald</b> Trump Jr., of meeting with Russians for dirt on Hillary Clinton fame, got caught liking a porn bot on Twitter, and his taste is INTENSE. The Twitter account Trump Alert, which displays who the Trump family and administration are liking and following on the site, revealed that Don Jr. followed an account that featured really nasty stuff. Like, really nasty. When people talk about chokers being back in style, this is not what they mean. Highlights from @djr_102's tweets include the phrase "day long erection" and a violent picture of a man penetrating and choking a woman. It immediately brought back memories of September 11th, 2017, the day Ted Cruz's Twitter account liked a porn tweet. Don Jr.'s porn account of choice has since been shut down. Trump Alert is not certain of the exact date and time Don Jr. followed the account. It's possible that Jr. engaged with the porno provider earlier than yesterday, but the alert came up due to the account's reactivation. It's all moot now, because sadly for Junior, djr_102 is no more. Sad! Poor Don Jr. will have to find another source of excitement. Maybe WikiLeaks can slide back into his DMs.<br /><b>Hey</b>, it's Sunday... instead of doing this blog thing I should be listening to this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ITywFxthfew/Wlt5nmsq4AI/AAAAAAAAxg0/td4VZFeJht8rrgnRpFTsZmvOVg9X50yCACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_89b.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="595" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ITywFxthfew/Wlt5nmsq4AI/AAAAAAAAxg0/td4VZFeJht8rrgnRpFTsZmvOVg9X50yCACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_89b.jpeg" width="387" /></a></div><br />Ummm... maybe not. So, I was watching one of my favorite Disney movies the other day and I saw this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--OtDEli0Pg4/Wlt1gB0kuKI/AAAAAAAAxgY/936lSH2QO3g4c-JDFov0UFGv3wth1bjUQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_895.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="263" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--OtDEli0Pg4/Wlt1gB0kuKI/AAAAAAAAxgY/936lSH2QO3g4c-JDFov0UFGv3wth1bjUQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_895.jpeg" /></a></div><br />And it reminded me of something. And then it hit me...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-giyaShrzAxs/Wlt1we9LJ2I/AAAAAAAAxgc/KWhjx1ASDQUxkJaxRovZoUZOYtlhdQJvwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_896.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="268" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-giyaShrzAxs/Wlt1we9LJ2I/AAAAAAAAxgc/KWhjx1ASDQUxkJaxRovZoUZOYtlhdQJvwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_896.jpeg" /></a></div><br />Haha. I love <i>Robin Hood</i> and <i>The Jungle Book</i> though. Have you noticed technology is getting smaller and smaller? Other things in life are as well...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Gmln0hk5pk/Wlt3cxYFA7I/AAAAAAAAxgo/ZOFDrUI7KRYQZT1AalTpbk7Dlga5EhI5ACLcBGAs/s1600/World_dc5b0c_6353489.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="1200" height="303" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Gmln0hk5pk/Wlt3cxYFA7I/AAAAAAAAxgo/ZOFDrUI7KRYQZT1AalTpbk7Dlga5EhI5ACLcBGAs/s400/World_dc5b0c_6353489.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I wonder how much damage that little thing could cause. If I had a TARDIS I would go back to World Wars II but knowing my luck I'll come across Nazi General Himmler.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EuKscyNRmbk/Wlt8ICizDhI/AAAAAAAAxhI/hv4y8UEFIoYatl352VVj7HLM65hWGSKWgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_89f.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="676" height="277" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EuKscyNRmbk/Wlt8ICizDhI/AAAAAAAAxhI/hv4y8UEFIoYatl352VVj7HLM65hWGSKWgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_89f.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />But at least he'd be stared down by a Jewish man. Look at that stare. Man, Doland Trump Jr. sure tweeted some weird stuff in the past...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K9jDfD7NlDo/Wlt9BIqv6wI/AAAAAAAAxhU/UH59peI-gT8lhDh_5UZLmdkTu6JYYFXYgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_6f7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="199" data-original-width="497" height="160" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K9jDfD7NlDo/Wlt9BIqv6wI/AAAAAAAAxhU/UH59peI-gT8lhDh_5UZLmdkTu6JYYFXYgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_6f7.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Ummm... no, it isn't. So, I love the Porgs from the last <i>Star Wars</i> movie but that wasn't the first <i>Star Wars</i> film they were in. They were also in the very first one. Don't believe me?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3qUa6APHAK0/Wlt91XKi7HI/AAAAAAAAxhc/mYV-Q1omNzs0WHS2Kj7S8EkNarF7ZXWnACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3qUa6APHAK0/Wlt91XKi7HI/AAAAAAAAxhc/mYV-Q1omNzs0WHS2Kj7S8EkNarF7ZXWnACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2739.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />See it? Alright, so, this year the Phile is 12-years-old, and in those years some celebrities have changed &nbsp;a lot. For example Ryan Gosling. This is him in 2006...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rYJhj6RWglo/Wlt-RJZpHLI/AAAAAAAAxhg/se2s7u6FQlku82KPK3Ew28ce3qE3JcFyQCLcBGAs/s1600/shutterstock94678984-mk2boY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rYJhj6RWglo/Wlt-RJZpHLI/AAAAAAAAxhg/se2s7u6FQlku82KPK3Ew28ce3qE3JcFyQCLcBGAs/s320/shutterstock94678984-mk2boY.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />He was beardy. Now in 2018...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TW4-_s5WvP4/Wlt-eKKy4VI/AAAAAAAAxho/_sppgxRXmfox9nTgqwGxajYcbV-LGb1CACLcBGAs/s1600/ryangosling-0DbzbJ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TW4-_s5WvP4/Wlt-eKKy4VI/AAAAAAAAxho/_sppgxRXmfox9nTgqwGxajYcbV-LGb1CACLcBGAs/s320/ryangosling-0DbzbJ.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><br />He's sticking to a mere stubble. Good for him. Alright, do you know what is the best? No? I will tell you...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wb76lAoOIJg/Wlt-25g9DWI/AAAAAAAAxhw/faNlzNitD0EoNyoKCVZ42tSpnJJmVWEvwCLcBGAs/s1600/gwwKK1480295440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="220" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wb76lAoOIJg/Wlt-25g9DWI/AAAAAAAAxhw/faNlzNitD0EoNyoKCVZ42tSpnJJmVWEvwCLcBGAs/s400/gwwKK1480295440.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />The more sulfur-rich your diet is, the more terrible your toots will smell. Some foods contain more sulfur than others, which is why eating things like beans, cabbage, cheese, soda, and eggs can cause gas that will peel the paint off the walls!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6fYaxd0hII0/Wlt_aVYLD1I/AAAAAAAAxh4/PzqmeHZ1fes1PJL9n1fdF0nGnMkHTdN4gCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6fYaxd0hII0/Wlt_aVYLD1I/AAAAAAAAxh4/PzqmeHZ1fes1PJL9n1fdF0nGnMkHTdN4gCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dCuoQ_4ZhJI/Wlt_hYOtX4I/AAAAAAAAxh8/E_InAD2otFoyUlJwet9rscUb_1UaqliXgCLcBGAs/s1600/Advertising%252Bsweden%252Bcome%252Band%252Bchill%252Bwith%252Bfellow%252Bfjers%252Bhere%252Bsweden%252Bgreen%252Bfunnyjunk%252Bsocial%252Bgreen%252Bhttps%252Bdiscordgg%252Bkeeawrv%252Bazure%252Bfj_2456b9_6108408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="500" height="275" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dCuoQ_4ZhJI/Wlt_hYOtX4I/AAAAAAAAxh8/E_InAD2otFoyUlJwet9rscUb_1UaqliXgCLcBGAs/s400/Advertising%252Bsweden%252Bcome%252Band%252Bchill%252Bwith%252Bfellow%252Bfjers%252Bhere%252Bsweden%252Bgreen%252Bfunnyjunk%252Bsocial%252Bgreen%252Bhttps%252Bdiscordgg%252Bkeeawrv%252Bazure%252Bfj_2456b9_6108408.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Ha. If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, so, how was last year for you? I bet it wasn't as bad as some people's...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-STlfObONGzg/Wlt_yE4lbLI/AAAAAAAAxiE/BCO2GbjmylA3JIk8cDA3ulMG5n1K7Tv8ACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_7f7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="818" height="143" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-STlfObONGzg/Wlt_yE4lbLI/AAAAAAAAxiE/BCO2GbjmylA3JIk8cDA3ulMG5n1K7Tv8ACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_7f7.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Like all women. Being a woman in America in 2017 meant waking up in a country where a sexual predator is president, checking the news to read about sexual predators in Hollywood, and taking a break from Hollywood perverts to read about the ones in Congress. It's not just rhetoric... Trump has waged war on women's health and women's rights. Needless to say, it sucked for you I'm sure. But things are looking up: a record number of women are running for office in 2018, and #TheResistance is only getting stronger and more organized. While 2017 was bad for both women and perverts alike, this year belongs to women.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kHlHbZJgPXc/WluAU1zYEfI/AAAAAAAAxiM/6ZYkC116xMMA0BZ9V0qtPthpQ8cOwuKRACLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="400" height="187" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kHlHbZJgPXc/WluAU1zYEfI/AAAAAAAAxiM/6ZYkC116xMMA0BZ9V0qtPthpQ8cOwuKRACLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-48TtKxo_d0U/WluAbL-9yNI/AAAAAAAAxiQ/VHMHEStzsF442SIjZgHk_MIk3aWL_0niACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_870.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-48TtKxo_d0U/WluAbL-9yNI/AAAAAAAAxiQ/VHMHEStzsF442SIjZgHk_MIk3aWL_0niACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_870.jpeg" width="365" /></a></div><br /><br />So, I was watching one of my TV shows from the 90s, "The X-Files," and it got me to thinking... I should be like Mulder. So, here is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uMuCLqQ3LnU/WluCScea7JI/AAAAAAAAxig/3um4irar7Jw3r2vZPFFXXtQUrKJs93XYwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8a2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="69" data-original-width="400" height="68" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uMuCLqQ3LnU/WluCScea7JI/AAAAAAAAxig/3um4irar7Jw3r2vZPFFXXtQUrKJs93XYwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8a2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Back in the 1950s the CIA secretly dosed individuals with LSD in order to test the potential effects of mind control. Although the practice reportedly continued for two decades, it was launched before the drug movement of the 1960s made LSD into a popular counterculture symbol. And while being given some free acid might sound like a great time to some, or at least the plot to a bad hipster action movie, dozens of people were reportedly left with permanent disabilities after secretly being subjected to massive amounts of LSD and electroshock therapy after seeking treatment for “minor psychiatric complaints.”<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CUADsbOKuFQ/WluCqSbotZI/AAAAAAAAxik/KA0CsuEMBwgEJ_YJOf6qBYjZabivQOpqACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="583" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CUADsbOKuFQ/WluCqSbotZI/AAAAAAAAxik/KA0CsuEMBwgEJ_YJOf6qBYjZabivQOpqACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div><br />Holy shithole. "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that a month before the 2016 election, President Trump's lawyer paid $130,000 to an adult film star "as part of an agreement that precluded her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump." Stephanie Clifford... stage name: Stormy Daniels... was paid in October 2016 and signed a nondisclosure agreement. Stephanie/Stormy alleges that she met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in July 2006 in Lake Tahoe. Trump married Melania in 2005. Barron Trump was born in March 2006. "The Journal" had previously reported in November 2016 that Daniels was in talks to appear on "Good Morning America," but was presumably offered a better deal by the Trump camp. Trump and Stormy had allegedly been in the same place at the same time a year after the alleged encounter. The lawyer forwarded to journalists a signed letter from Stormy denying the story.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ohXu8m-bLr0/WluD33aywpI/AAAAAAAAxiw/ejzHBAlrz4YyjfkEEY-WrI2NIV6_pTFEwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-14%2Bat%2B11.22.22%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="560" height="397" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ohXu8m-bLr0/WluD33aywpI/AAAAAAAAxiw/ejzHBAlrz4YyjfkEEY-WrI2NIV6_pTFEwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-14%2Bat%2B11.22.22%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />This is wild news in an already wild week for an extremely wild presidency. Realistically, Stormy Daniels should be paying Trump not to tell anyone she had sex with him. It's her reputation that suffers here.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wYpo869iBGU/WluD-gxLx6I/AAAAAAAAxi0/9P2acxrFADwh9C5LPkd3ynE1YVwKh4ZjgCLcBGAs/s1600/again.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wYpo869iBGU/WluD-gxLx6I/AAAAAAAAxi0/9P2acxrFADwh9C5LPkd3ynE1YVwKh4ZjgCLcBGAs/s400/again.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Keith Jackson&nbsp;</b><br />October 18th, 1928 — January 13th, 2018<br />Something about Nellie goes here. Hey Nellie? Go Nellie? Run, nellie, run? Something like that.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DO2QplzMFVk/WluGy6zTuiI/AAAAAAAAxjQ/IvpqJkE_rJ81YH-XqNFN8W4BlA1hMGEfACLcBGAs/s1600/yoursign-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DO2QplzMFVk/WluGy6zTuiI/AAAAAAAAxjQ/IvpqJkE_rJ81YH-XqNFN8W4BlA1hMGEfACLcBGAs/s400/yoursign-41.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />The 73rd book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GMzhvlVBEew/WluG-eEcUdI/AAAAAAAAxjU/_jVtc_BzCIwWD-6hC_roI45BHKgP-tIbwCLcBGAs/s1600/51VAGhHprzL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GMzhvlVBEew/WluG-eEcUdI/AAAAAAAAxjU/_jVtc_BzCIwWD-6hC_roI45BHKgP-tIbwCLcBGAs/s320/51VAGhHprzL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br />The author, Linda S. Godfrey will be the guest on the Phile a week from tomorrow. Now for some...<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Za4UjSSxaE/WluEdNHBMpI/AAAAAAAAxi8/tRfsJI61vFkTe3UPMlWxJOGoFS0TlOmoQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Za4UjSSxaE/WluEdNHBMpI/AAAAAAAAxi8/tRfsJI61vFkTe3UPMlWxJOGoFS0TlOmoQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Phact 1. </b>The famous female pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonny discovered each others’ real genders (they were disguising themselves as men) when Bonny told Read that she was attracted to her, causing Read to reveal herself as a female as well.<br /><br /><b>Phact 2. </b>Before the filming of <i>Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban</i>, director Alfonso Cuarón had Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson write essays about their characters. Watson turned in a 16-page essay, Radcliffe gave a single page, and Grint forgot to turn his in.<br /><br /><b>Phact 3.</b> Ghanaian soccer player Mohammed Anas accidentally thanked both his wife and his girlfriend in a speech after a match.<br /><br /><b>Phact 4.&nbsp;</b>In 2013, an elderly care home in California was shut down leaving many residents with nowhere to go or care for them. After the rest of the staff left, a cook and a janitor decided to stay behind and, unpaid, they looked after them 24/7.<br /><br /><b>Phact 5. </b>The popular Vine “Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal” was created by Ryan McHenry. McHenry was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma cancer and passed after battling for a year. In a tribute to McHenry, actor Ryan Gosling created a Vine account and ate a bowl of cereal.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3KKrZL33aA8/WluGARTbzXI/AAAAAAAAxjI/Y_5_yJTbsJ8OLU-ytubin_stK_SG03LmgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_7b.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="400" height="375" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3KKrZL33aA8/WluGARTbzXI/AAAAAAAAxjI/Y_5_yJTbsJ8OLU-ytubin_stK_SG03LmgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_7b.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today's guest is a brand new singer whose single "Lost with You" is available on iTunes. Please welcome to the Phile... Parker Matthews.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dH87XMeSTFE/WluHVP6NGII/AAAAAAAAxjc/0ZswzX1idZYBU4tdoWOy6B7vaQF0zshJACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_6d4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dH87XMeSTFE/WluHVP6NGII/AAAAAAAAxjc/0ZswzX1idZYBU4tdoWOy6B7vaQF0zshJACLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_6d4.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hello, Parker, how are you? Welcome to the Phile.<br /><br /><b>Parker: </b>Hey! I’m doing well! How’re you? Thank you so much for having me.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I'm hanging in there. You have your first single and video out called "Lost With You." Was this something that you planned to do for a long time?<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> I wrote “Lost With You” back in January of last year, and didn’t record it until the summer.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> How long have you been singing and writing songs, Parker?<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> I’ve been singing since I was a little kid, and music has always meant the world to me. I started writing songs when I was a teenager, and have been at it ever since.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> When did you realize you wanted to be singer?<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> I always wanted to be a singer, and always felt that was my calling.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Who are your musical influences?<br /><br /><b>Parker: </b>I have so many influences, but I’d have to say my favorites are Christina Aguilera, Jessie J, Jennifer Hudson, and Whitney Houston.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I am guessing you did a lot of theater in school, am I right?<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> I did <i>some</i> theater, but mostly was in music classes and orchestra, I played the violin and piano.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Where are you originally from, Parker? Where do you live now?<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> I am originally from Wexford, Pennsylvania, which is just outside of Pittsburgh. I live in L.A. now though!<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Did you move to L.A. for your music career?<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> I did indeed move to LA for my career in music and I’ve never looked back.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>What's your favorite thing about living there?<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> The weather is great, but most of all, I get to be around the entertainment industry all the time.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Do you get back home to Pennsylvania often?<br /><br /><b>Parker: </b>I go home once a year for Christmas for a few days.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What do your parents and family think of our music? They must be proud of you, am I right?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> My parents have always believed in me and they are proud of what I’ve been doing, but this is only the beginning!<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>You went to North Allegheny Intermediate High School... what a name... where was that? You studied drama and music there, am I right?<br /><br /><b>Parker: </b>My high School was in Wexford, and we didn’t really have courses of study, just classes that we could take as extra classes.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Did you go to college?<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> I did, I studied business and almost went down that road, but decided to follow my dreams instead!<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>You had a rough time in school getting bullied a lot and you even thought of committing suicide... why did you get bullied a lot, Parker?<br /><br /><b>Parker: </b>I was bullied a lot because I was in the arts, and that was looked at as being different. I was picked on daily, and at times, it became really tough to pull through.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Was this in grade school or the high school?<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> It became worse in high school.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I was only bullied a little at school but back then bullying was so different as now kids are using social media to bully... was that how you were?<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> Social media wasn’t as prevalent back then, so it was mainly in person when the bullying would happen.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Were you doing a lot of songwriting back then? Did that help?<br /><br /><b>Parker: </b>I did song write, but I did do a lot of writing which allowed me to have my creative outlet.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me: </b>You do a lot of stuff for suicide prevention, Parker, which is cool... what kinda stuff do you do to get the word out?<br /><br /><b>Parker: </b>The latest thing I’ve done was in Sydney, Australia this past spring for their Mardi Gras festival and worked with an organization down there that works with young LGBT youth as an anti-suicide non-profit.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> That's cool. Okay, let's talk about "Lost With You." Did you write that song, Parker?<br /><br /><b>Parker: </b>I did indeed write the song.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Do you write on keyboards or an acoustic guitar?<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> My writing partner and I write on piano and keyboards.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Is that song written about anybody in particular?<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> It sure is, but that person will remain anonymous. Ha.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b>&nbsp;Fair enough. Where was the video filmed? It looked like it was cold by the water there.<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> It was filmed in Malibu and the water was so cold that morning!<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I have to show a screenshot of the video...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bns3PszqwfU/WluLTHiDFVI/AAAAAAAAxjo/PZxxgJQu0I8JYmRXMfqHtu2X3PDVABf3ACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-14%2Bat%2B11.54.01%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="849" height="202" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bns3PszqwfU/WluLTHiDFVI/AAAAAAAAxjo/PZxxgJQu0I8JYmRXMfqHtu2X3PDVABf3ACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-14%2Bat%2B11.54.01%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Were those actors or real friends of yours in the video?<br /><br /><b>Parker: </b>They were actual real friends which was nice.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I am guessing you knew the guy who was your boyfriend in the video... was that your decision to feature a gay relationship in the video? I like it you are being true to yourself...<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> Yes, it was up to me to decide the concept of the video and Trent is the guys name who played along with me. He’s a good friend of mine and was such a good sport that day!<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, what is next for you, Parker? Are you releasing more music soon?<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> I sure am! My next single "Hit and Run" will be out on February 2nd.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Hey, did you know there is a singer named Matthew Parker? You should do a few shows with him. Haha. Thanks so much for being on the Phile. Mention your website and I hope this was fun. Come back again soon, and continue making music. Take care.<br /><br /><b>Parker:</b> Thank you so much for having me! <a href="http://instagram.com/officialparkermatthews/">Instagram.com/officialparkermatthews/</a>.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> You're welcome. Come back soon.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q7phoyrRKFY/WluMiSojcLI/AAAAAAAAxj0/wwfR2Qxox58eAPHgs_Yovbh0fiLNcSQCACLcBGAs/s1600/PARKER_MATTHEWS-Single_art-Lost-With-You.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q7phoyrRKFY/WluMiSojcLI/AAAAAAAAxj0/wwfR2Qxox58eAPHgs_Yovbh0fiLNcSQCACLcBGAs/s320/PARKER_MATTHEWS-Single_art-Lost-With-You.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Parker for being on the Phile. The Phile will be back tomorrow with singer/songwriter Oleta Adams. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_vkFciRxe9I/WluOva-qHeI/AAAAAAAAxkA/S-KEnW2jKIQaMhUmUx-rwyVNTdfQQ0pgACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_8a4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="487" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_vkFciRxe9I/WluOva-qHeI/AAAAAAAAxkA/S-KEnW2jKIQaMhUmUx-rwyVNTdfQQ0pgACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_8a4.jpeg" width="287" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-62761565364837255532018-01-11T13:58:00.001-05:002018-01-14T11:33:05.693-05:00Pheaturing Phile Alum Jim Korkis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Km7_msdbPoQ/WleKuAuBLaI/AAAAAAAAxbY/0fFMd1QcsuEq_MVCswoeZjCtfj5BCVNAgCLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Km7_msdbPoQ/WleKuAuBLaI/AAAAAAAAxbY/0fFMd1QcsuEq_MVCswoeZjCtfj5BCVNAgCLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hey</b> there, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Thursday. How are you? A lot better than Steve Bannon, I bet, who totally cucked himself. Former White House chief strategist and current blog editor Steve Bannon brought the "Fire and Fury" to the recent book of that name. In the past week since chapters of the book were first released, the Ban man got called crazy by the president, lost his financial backers (aka sugar daddies), and got christened with a nickname by Donald Trump (Sloppy Steve... not his best work), so spent the weekend groveling for forgiveness. Having called Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner's meeting "treasonous" in "Fire and Fury," Bannon said in a statement to Axios that Don Jr. is "both a patriot and a good man." (But nothing about Jared. That beef is still on.) "My comments were aimed at Paul Manafort, a seasoned campaign professional with experience and knowledge of how the Russians operate. He should have known they are duplicitous, cunning and not our friends. To reiterate, those comments were not aimed at Don Jr," he insists. For the people who still have yet to be fired from the White House, this humiliating apology from a man whose whole brand is predicated on being a brilliant, menacing Alpha Bro is too little, too late. Politico says of the reaction to Bannon's 297-word grovel-y apology, "It did nothing to quell Trump’s rage at his former chief strategist or the anger of Bannon’s former West Wing colleagues, according to multiple administration officials, who said the vibe in the president’s circle was that people were unmoved by the statement." Asked whether there is anything Bannon can do at this point to get back in the president's good graces, one White House official said curtly, "Unlikely." With Bannon's image as Trump's "man on the outside" torched, and his financial backers backing out, it looks like famous white supremacist is being written out of the movie he produced.<br /><b>Another</b> day, another shitty dress code! Meet Ali Chaney, a Texas middle schooler was instructed to change her tee-shirt because it was "too distracting," her mom wrote in a post on Facebook. Sadly, we're all accustomed to girls being told their natural human bodies are "distracting" to boys, resulting in dress code enforcements like no spaghetti straps and no midriff. But in Cheney's case, she wasn't even wearing a tank top or a crop top, but a full coverage tee-shirt. So what was do "distracting" about it? That would have to be the message, which read, "Some people are gay, get over it!" I am on board with that message, Ali! Her school, sadly, was not. Chaney, who is gay according to BuzzFeed News, was called into the principle's office and told that her shirt "did not belong" in school. Watson, who deserves applause for her awesome mothering in the face of very bad schooling, took to Facebook to air her grievances with the school's blatant homophobia. Ugh, poor Ali. "I didn't understand what he meant by 'that,'" the teen told BuzzFeed News. "I don't know if he meant the shirt or openly admitting that you're gay. I just didn't think there'd be a problem. It just felt like I was being discriminated against." As much as it sucks that she was targeted by homophobia IN HER OWN SCHOOL, she has the support and love of her mom, which rocks. And the Internet is definitely on her side as well. Watson's post went viral, with more than 5,000 shares and hundreds of comments lending their support for Ali.<br /><b>President </b>Trump is not the only one with a knack for coming up with creatively offensive nicknames. Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro had no problem ripping into the president while giving a speech introducing Meryl Streep at the National Board of Review Annual Awards Gala on Tuesday night. In the speech, De Niro calls Trump a "fucking idiot" and a "fucking fool" before revealing the nickname he has privately bestowed upon him... "Jerkoff-in-chief." In the speech, De Niro also summarize Streep's new film, <i>The Post</i>, by saying, "The movie gave us glimpses of President Nixon as delusional, narcissistic, petty, vindictive, nasty and batshit fucking crazy," De Niro said. "Ah, the good old days." Damn, Robby. Tell us how you really feel. So what nickname do you think Trump will gift De Niro in return? Dirty De Niro? Robert De Nir-NO? Terrible Travis Bickle? Who knows, but I will keep our eyes on the president's Twitter account just in case.<br /><b>Perennial</b> douche James Franco is coming under fire for alleged incidents of sexual misconduct after Franco sported a Time's Up pin at the Golden Globes. Stephen Colbert confronted Franco after actresses Ally Sheedy, Violet Paley, and Sarah Tither-Kaplan tweeted about Franco. Perhaps a year ago Franco could've continued to coast by. But the reckoning is happening and Franco is already the recipient of notable backlash. Franco and his brother Dave were scheduled to discuss their film <i>The Disaster Artist</i> at a TimesTalk event hosted by the "New York Times" yesterday. The "Times" canceled the event in a direct response to the allegations against Franco. The "Times" told "The Hollywood Reporter" in a statement, "The event was intended to be a discussion of the making of the film, <i>The Disaster Artist</i>. Given the controversy surrounding recent allegations, we're no longer comfortable proceeding in that vein." This news and cancellation comes directly after Franco won a Golden Globe for best actor for his work in <i>The Disaster Artist.</i>..<i>&nbsp;</i>and refused to let the man he portrayed, Tommy Wiseau, speak. The next best step in this new era is for ensuing award shows like the Oscars to penalize Franco in the wake of these allegations.<br /><b>Ivanka</b> Trump tweeted praise for Oprah Winfrey's inspiring speech at Sunday night's Golden Globes, but some people felt the sentiment rang false. Her tweet implored people to come together to say "Time's Up" and put an end to sexual harassment, but her own father, President Donald Trump, has a number of allegations of sexual abuse against him.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sIIG7R95o9I/WleSSSzcYHI/AAAAAAAAxbw/-JG6T5WN2WYBqgg7Xlfjxb0HnUQD8gipwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-11%2Bat%2B11.34.52%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="494" height="158" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sIIG7R95o9I/WleSSSzcYHI/AAAAAAAAxbw/-JG6T5WN2WYBqgg7Xlfjxb0HnUQD8gipwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-11%2Bat%2B11.34.52%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Twitter immediately jumped on the tweet, with a lot of people simply joking, "Who's going to tell her?" Jonathan Swan, a political reporter for Axios covering Trump, tweeted that there were some "raised eyebrows" in the White House over Ivanka's tweet. There's also the rumor that Ivanka is considering a run for president in the future. Ivanka also apparently followed both Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi on Twitter. This is probably not going to make her father very happy.<br /><b>Okay,</b> so, if I had a TARDIS I would like to go back to the 30s and I think it'll be fun to see a prototype of the VW Bug. But knowing my luck someone else would be there.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iB_IKHF5jlE/WleUOES0c9I/AAAAAAAAxb8/M8hauKFEPL41r8tBp-v-KDoupto2qhdEACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_86c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="684" height="235" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iB_IKHF5jlE/WleUOES0c9I/AAAAAAAAxb8/M8hauKFEPL41r8tBp-v-KDoupto2qhdEACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_86c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />So, I was supposed to Google "overweight cat" and instead I ended up Googling "overweight car" and this is what I discovered.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ih0ECC14ob0/WleVLycSuWI/AAAAAAAAxcI/6Usg_iMp3TQRTmy15MfeNWev3aHayjb2QCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_86e.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="1187" height="246" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ih0ECC14ob0/WleVLycSuWI/AAAAAAAAxcI/6Usg_iMp3TQRTmy15MfeNWev3aHayjb2QCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_86e.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />So, Donald Trump Jr. sure has tweeted some weird shit in his time...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kqsBEbgahpA/WleVwPQyGkI/AAAAAAAAxcQ/VaqXLL_0RXoVAlmUxSuaa5fCXR2v8jFDACLcBGAs/s1600/enhanced-11652-1453752841-6.png.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="562" height="128" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kqsBEbgahpA/WleVwPQyGkI/AAAAAAAAxcQ/VaqXLL_0RXoVAlmUxSuaa5fCXR2v8jFDACLcBGAs/s400/enhanced-11652-1453752841-6.png.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hmmm... So, I love those Porgs from the new <i>Star Wars</i> movie, but I have seen them before. Then it hit me...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zs1Wd9gM3hQ/WleWgh9yV4I/AAAAAAAAxcc/8pNM77YSt58ByyJUvLZHLpMhL3_ZbTiFQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="466" height="258" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zs1Wd9gM3hQ/WleWgh9yV4I/AAAAAAAAxcc/8pNM77YSt58ByyJUvLZHLpMhL3_ZbTiFQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2740.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />I don't know if you believe in God or not but if he is real some people sure have sure strayed from his light...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aqiVxpqfuTg/WleXB4Z12uI/AAAAAAAAxck/UkiEYU-17r87XUdyznLl8rm7QuHOegibACLcBGAs/s1600/enhanced-buzz-15459-1427394742-5-2GBbXw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="624" height="305" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aqiVxpqfuTg/WleXB4Z12uI/AAAAAAAAxck/UkiEYU-17r87XUdyznLl8rm7QuHOegibACLcBGAs/s400/enhanced-buzz-15459-1427394742-5-2GBbXw.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hmmmm. So, this year is the Phile's 12th anniversary and in those years some celebrities have changed. For example... Emma Stone. In 2006 she looked like this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Hljq5Kfbw0/WleX3zzVVNI/AAAAAAAAxcs/yOQNxoNWmQM0Dt621r3vMiUN6Kg2ynK7gCLcBGAs/s1600/shutterstock147301901-zyyzN8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Hljq5Kfbw0/WleX3zzVVNI/AAAAAAAAxcs/yOQNxoNWmQM0Dt621r3vMiUN6Kg2ynK7gCLcBGAs/s320/shutterstock147301901-zyyzN8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />She was Jonah Hill's love interest. Now in 2018 she's this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8F7uLi8jNkk/WleYGpNialI/AAAAAAAAxc0/7EtjedUCQD0uUEoNKLQfriS3QF8khMmpgCLcBGAs/s1600/emma-stone-oscars-2017-getty-tTH6UW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8F7uLi8jNkk/WleYGpNialI/AAAAAAAAxc0/7EtjedUCQD0uUEoNKLQfriS3QF8khMmpgCLcBGAs/s320/emma-stone-oscars-2017-getty-tTH6UW.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Ryan Gosling's love interest. And yes, I know that pic is nor from this year, but she surely hasn't changed that much since the last Oscars'. Hey, it's Thursday. You know what that means...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KijXSS3YrSw/WleYewA6IYI/AAAAAAAAxc4/eIi0M9See7w62237kWbyTLjc0Y2iXM3wwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_15.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="531" height="276" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KijXSS3YrSw/WleYewA6IYI/AAAAAAAAxc4/eIi0M9See7w62237kWbyTLjc0Y2iXM3wwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_15.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--rdvv1nPAhk/WleZPCTTgyI/AAAAAAAAxdE/WsNa89Um3ygWNGyN5x-jv7gkrQqj497kQCLcBGAs/s1600/a97178_Maggots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="450" height="273" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--rdvv1nPAhk/WleZPCTTgyI/AAAAAAAAxdE/WsNa89Um3ygWNGyN5x-jv7gkrQqj497kQCLcBGAs/s400/a97178_Maggots.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Charlie Bell, a former steel worker, smashed the world record for "most amount of maggots moved by the mouth in one hour." Bell reportedly carried two square foot of live maggots in one hour from one container to another using only his mouth. The-35-year-old from Leyton, East London, admitted "It was disgusting." No, shit, Charlie, no shit.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-anmgLJOAPy0/WleZcmQ0z9I/AAAAAAAAxdI/szMwd5iwQsQZJHalwaPNlHveWFbO8Jh0ACLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-anmgLJOAPy0/WleZcmQ0z9I/AAAAAAAAxdI/szMwd5iwQsQZJHalwaPNlHveWFbO8Jh0ACLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L4XmkUqYQ-Q/WleaWfj2sbI/AAAAAAAAxdU/XnFA3P-g6MU3q4Nj-04ehUSXkXbdwQVCQCLcBGAs/s1600/Cursed_e6fe29_6337521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="591" height="292" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L4XmkUqYQ-Q/WleaWfj2sbI/AAAAAAAAxdU/XnFA3P-g6MU3q4Nj-04ehUSXkXbdwQVCQCLcBGAs/s400/Cursed_e6fe29_6337521.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hahahaha. If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, so it's I don't know what kinda year 2017 was for you but for some people it sucked...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vbxrErEseNU/WlecPkwf2RI/AAAAAAAAxdk/8GJnlCxnGmQtpJUV8UpXwjm5kogiMiDPQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_7f7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="818" height="143" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vbxrErEseNU/WlecPkwf2RI/AAAAAAAAxdk/8GJnlCxnGmQtpJUV8UpXwjm5kogiMiDPQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_7f7.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Like for Roy Moore, because he turned Alabama blue. Alleged child molester and confirmed cowboy cosplayer Roy Moore dragged America into the horrid debate of "is child molestation okay?" Thank the Lord... no, not the lord that Moore insists he's a vessel of... that Alabama voters concluded that NO, IT IS NOT. And still, Moore and his horse Sassy have yet to ride off into the sunset, as a week and a half after his loss to Doug Jones, Moore still REFUSEd TO CONCEDE. As if having to be removed from the Alabama state supreme court twice (TWICE!) wasn't a bad enough reputation, Moore will now go down in history as the child molester who helped turn Alabama blue (well, purple) for the first time in decades.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lzN1VaapG7o/WledC6dae1I/AAAAAAAAxds/6oPwGMqwk6czw75rrh-A4Nlnqw2KMwpogCLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="400" height="187" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lzN1VaapG7o/WledC6dae1I/AAAAAAAAxds/6oPwGMqwk6czw75rrh-A4Nlnqw2KMwpogCLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OPJMDsrJcqk/Wledjtf60bI/AAAAAAAAxd0/4PBlXznMrWEMU8lD4byLBPlbRoH02JjywCLcBGAs/s1600/48-phB3Jr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="777" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OPJMDsrJcqk/Wledjtf60bI/AAAAAAAAxd0/4PBlXznMrWEMU8lD4byLBPlbRoH02JjywCLcBGAs/s400/48-phB3Jr.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><br /><br />Hey, it's Thursday, so it's time to talk football with my good friend Jeff.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MVeuEWGqnFk/Wlea-LcQrRI/AAAAAAAAxdc/vyWMQNnTmiAtQ7EhGm6oV4uqPX6masIQQCLcBGAs/s1600/21175267_10155181387409355_2128367425_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="574" height="216" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MVeuEWGqnFk/Wlea-LcQrRI/AAAAAAAAxdc/vyWMQNnTmiAtQ7EhGm6oV4uqPX6masIQQCLcBGAs/s400/21175267_10155181387409355_2128367425_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me: </b>Hey, Jeff, welcome back to the Phile. How are you doing?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> Always glad to be back here on the Phile. I'm doing okay, We had a Cylcone Bomb storm since the last time we talked so there's a crapload of snow on the ground still, but otherwise things are good. How about yourself?<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I feel like shit. Other than that... Well, it's official... Oakland Raiders officially announced Jon Gruden is back as their head coach.Are you surprised? Wonder how long he'll stay.<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> I <i>am</i> rather surprised Gruden went back to the Raiders. He seemed to enjoy himself in the booth, but it's hard to pass up the contract he was offered. He got a 10 year deal which is insane. I doubt he will be there 10 years. Head coaches generally don't last that long.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I thought this was funny... A New Orleans newspaper trolled the Carolina Panthers with a hilarious front page.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dmL16tc-oOQ/WleeE4B0RwI/AAAAAAAAxd8/j7uiERWdJlMFLZhyIq4LaHaatwQe7tzZQCLcBGAs/s1600/Saints-Paper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="660" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dmL16tc-oOQ/WleeE4B0RwI/AAAAAAAAxd8/j7uiERWdJlMFLZhyIq4LaHaatwQe7tzZQCLcBGAs/s400/Saints-Paper.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> As you already know, the Carolina Panthers officially went up for sale. Do you think someone will but them quickly?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> Hahahahaha, while I think that's funny it's not true. It was a good game, close game. It's not like the Saints dominated Carolina. I think they will get bought rather quickly. Having a marquee player like Cam Newton will certainly help. I mean it's not like they are the 0-16 Browns or anything.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, what NFL news do you have, Jeff?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> Speaking of Cam Newton, he was one of 2 QB's to get injured with concussions late in their playoff games the other being Taylor from Buffalo. We saw come coordinators switching jobs, but no head coaching vacancies have been filled. So you know what that means? You still have a chance to be Giants head coach! Antonio Brown practices for the first time since he got injured in Week 15, so he's trying to come back!<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I'd love to coach the Giants. Okay, so, how did we do with the last picks? You're still kicking my ass, right?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> Well, you did go 0-2 last week. I went 1-1. Neither of our teams played so I gained 2 more points on you. My record as it stands is 21-17. You are at 16-22. So yes, I am still kicking your ass.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Shit. Okay, let's pick the Playoffs picks. I say Falcon's by 6 and your Steelers by 6. What do you say?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> I will reluctantly take New England by 10 and Minnesota by 3.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, Jeff, I will see you back here next Thursday. Have a good week.<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> See you next week!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ouD720D2o44/Wleeti-ZtII/AAAAAAAAxeE/PK8bTLpVU4sAB0k8cwtVpS9jYbvjlzudQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="583" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ouD720D2o44/Wleeti-ZtII/AAAAAAAAxeE/PK8bTLpVU4sAB0k8cwtVpS9jYbvjlzudQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div><br />As unpredictable as Donald Trump's moods may be, a year into his White House stint, the president's routine is pretty predictable. Trump starts his day by rising and shining and getting some positive affirmation from his friends on "Fox and Friends," tweeting out what he learned from television rather than a presidential daily brief. This morning, while tweeting out what he's seen and heard on TV, the very stable genius unwittingly contradicted his own administration's position on the reauthorization of a program that allows the government to conduct foreign surveillance on U.S. soil. He tweeted it out after Fox Friend Andrew Napolitano delivered a statement right to the camera like someone on "The Office." The conspiracy mongering and third person perspective aren't the craziest parts of Trump's tweet... what's wild is that Trump contradicted his own White House's position. The White House put up a pro-mass surveillance statement last night, urging the House to reject an amendment known as "U.S.A. Rights" that would reform the government's ability to spy on Americans. //cdn.someecards.com/posts/dtq-acjxkaelcei-z30NQb.jpg NBC News Somewhere between 7:13 am and 9:14 am, Trump must have gotten the news that he supports FISA reauthorization.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gAzeVRG_D_o/WlegBVLyIYI/AAAAAAAAxeM/5MdbB5HudAM8a8UGO_BUPaPRoinBbVKKQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-11%2Bat%2B12.31.53%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="496" height="283" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gAzeVRG_D_o/WlegBVLyIYI/AAAAAAAAxeM/5MdbB5HudAM8a8UGO_BUPaPRoinBbVKKQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-11%2Bat%2B12.31.53%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Oopsie! And for something other than nuclear war threats, Trump's flip flop through "Fox and Friends" is having actual consequences. Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi asked Speaker Paul Ryan to cancel today's vote, because this mishmash is pretty darn confusing. Presidential live-tweeting can certainly have an impact on the world and the legislative process. Now, who wants to go on "Fox and Friends" to directly tell Trump to reauthorize healthcare for nine million children? And now for...<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2lAa90sh9KM/WleicpXI0jI/AAAAAAAAxeY/gAavbCRS23oIirhVSkrrUrnlMZGwx0nHgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-11%2Bat%2B12.43.41%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="116" data-original-width="678" height="68" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2lAa90sh9KM/WleicpXI0jI/AAAAAAAAxeY/gAavbCRS23oIirhVSkrrUrnlMZGwx0nHgCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-11%2Bat%2B12.43.41%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />I've bene rewatching one of my favorite shows from the 90s and it made me thing of a few conspiracies that are insane but actually are true. Who doesn’t love Canada? Well, 1960s Canada wasn’t quite the squishy utopia it seems to be today. The Canadian government hired Carleton University professor Frank Robert Wake to create something it maliciously called the “fruit machine,” which they believed could detect and identify gay men. It wasn’t part of some benign effort to understand human sexuality. It was part of a sick bit of McCarthyism with the stated goal of getting all gay men out of the country’s government. More than 400 people lost their jobs, and 9,000 more were kept on a file of “suspects.” The device claimed to work by measuring how much a subject’s pupils dilated after being forced to look at same-sex erotic imagery.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bq5PETzW0tg/WlejFID-JiI/AAAAAAAAxek/U2qHkwQMv5wx0czBT_jo7A8CJ1glQy-2wCLcBGAs/s1600/19990189-001-01.jpg%253Ds750x1300.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="731" height="261" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bq5PETzW0tg/WlejFID-JiI/AAAAAAAAxek/U2qHkwQMv5wx0czBT_jo7A8CJ1glQy-2wCLcBGAs/s320/19990189-001-01.jpg%253Ds750x1300.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The truth is out there, kids.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GKTR35G2xos/WlejxVwI5vI/AAAAAAAAxeo/bnnadc_yAEEaKTmo8vEKnnlou0iIJLIJQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_38.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="400" height="376" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GKTR35G2xos/WlejxVwI5vI/AAAAAAAAxeo/bnnadc_yAEEaKTmo8vEKnnlou0iIJLIJQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_38.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today's pheatured guest is one of my favorite Phile Alum whose book, "Call Me Walt: Everything You Never Knew About Walt Disney" is the 72nd book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club. Please welcome back to the Phile... Jim Korkis.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NwctWTDVH64/WlemKbP8ZoI/AAAAAAAAxe4/tuhjcb9s7oEiN29rjEnxDzDchTSOiGXbACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_87a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="963" height="238" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NwctWTDVH64/WlemKbP8ZoI/AAAAAAAAxe4/tuhjcb9s7oEiN29rjEnxDzDchTSOiGXbACLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_87a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hey, Jim, welcome back to the Phile. How have you been?<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> I can’t believe that 2017 over. That has been an active year for the world and for Disney. It makes me dizzy and not in a good way.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, before we talk of your new book about Walt, let’s talk about Disney as a company. The big Disney news since last time you were here is Disney buying Fox. What do you think of this?<br /><br /><b>Jim: </b>Disney is certainly gobbling up a lot of things and I hope it doesn't eventually dilute the Disney Brand. As others have mentioned, this merger with Fox will bring back the X-Men and Fantastic Four back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and that is a good thing, especially since X-Man Storm is the estranged wife of the Black Panther and the <i>Black Panther</i> film looks to be a big hit so that opens up some story possibilities and also some theme park attraction possibilities. Glad that Disney did NOT get in the merger the Fox News Network umbrella which I think would not match well with the Disney Brand at all. Also, the merger has resulted in Bob Iger extending his term to 2021 rather than jumping ship for his potential political career in 2019. Iger has been a good steward of the Disney Brand although often mysterious through his silence. Does anyone know his favorite Disney character? Or favorite Disney film? I think he saw that Michael Eisner's prominence towards the end of his reign seemed to be a disadvantage.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I can't believe what properties Disney owns now, Jim. It's crazy, right?<br /><br /><b>Jim: </b>What many people don't realize is that besides the Marvel characters (including Deadpool), Disney also now owns "The Simpsons" and <i>Avatar</i> plus a lot of other franchises including <i>Alien</i>. I wonder if Disney knew this might be happening and that was one of the reasons they got in business with James Cameron and whether they gave Cameron a "heads-up" which is why he came on board. I have no inside information about any of that but it is curious.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> The Hall of Presidents opened with Trump's figure finally... did you see it? What do you think of it? I wonder if people are still complaining.<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> It opened quietly with no fanfare. Haven't seen it and probably won't later in the year since the prediction of huge crowds this week and next at the Magic Kingdom make it a good place to avoid.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Last time you were here we talked about the rumor of a <i>Star Wars</i> hotel and now it's been officially announced... it's supposed to be a spaceship and be fully immersive. Would you want to stay there? What do you think it'll be like?<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> I am sure the resort will be much too expensive for my tiny wallet. My understanding is that they are using the Disney Cruise Line as the model for pricing since it is similar that you are in one area supplying your entertainment and food although I guess unlike the cruise ship you could leave to visit the parks. The suggestion of round-the-clock live entertainment characters is certainly going to make it very pricey. I think Disney also suggested you would have an interactive droid by your bedside. My understanding is that the windows will be HD screens to capture the feeling of being in outer space. I think those may be some sort of combination of live action and animation like the virtual portholes on the interior rooms of the Disney Cruise ships. Disney once considered having at WDW an immersive resort themed to a murder mystery and that concept developed into the Tower of Terror. Basically, it was determined that some of the planned activities at the resort, especially in the middle of the night, would be too intrusive and it was too expensive to have the live actor entertainment twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Also since you were here as well they revealed the name of <i>Star Wars</i> land... Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. What do you think of that name?<br /><br /><b>Jim: </b>I think they may have selected it so it is out of the way from the familiar planets and cultures so they can create their own stories without being hindered by any existing mythology. Also, it was probably selected to create that sense of “danger” that you are out of the usual safe areas, that you are off the beaten track where “anything can happen." For Walt Disney World, I still don’t understand how they can have Star Tours and then you walk through Grand Avenue before getting to Star Wars Land. Shouldn’t the attraction be in Star Wars Land? It seems to me to be a huge disconnect experience. I guess they will face a similar problem at Disneyland with the attraction being in Tomorrowland and the land being behind Frontierland. I can understand that the cost involved in moving it would be huge and it is so popular that it can’t be just closed down but in terms of storytelling, it is certainly odd to me.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> They have a way to work it out. Did you see that Cast Members got to sign&nbsp;a support beam that’ll top out the new land? You won't be able to see it at all but it's cool that the Cast got to do that.<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> I think the Disney company often forgets that some of the biggest Disney fans, the people who really keep the pixie dust and magic alive in the parks, are the Disney Cast Members. Being a former Cast Member, I always appreciated when we were allowed to do something out-of-the-ordinary. Doing something like this really helps the Cast become more invested in the park and the project.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, have you seen Pandora at&nbsp;Disney's Animal Kingdom yet? Whatcha think?<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> I think the immersive detail is wonderful but I think the land itself is much too small and the ride capacity is much too small. I hope there are plans to expand the area soon and I think it has been proven that it doesn’t rely on any familiarity with the actual movie (or its sequels) to appreciate the land. I really wish the river ride was longer. It was beautiful but it was so short, especially after a lengthy wait in the queue line. It is interesting to me to see that they have a “Plan B” if the Shaman breaks down which it will probably do since it is so sophisticated and operates almost constantly. They drop a screen and project an image of the Shaman on it. The more complex the technology as we have seen with the Everest Yeti, the more likely there are to be problems. I also wish that the Banshee ride was accessible to everyone. It seems all theme parks have fallen in love with the latest technology even though some people just can’t handle it. If the Harry Potter attraction at Universal had been made accessible to everyone, the line would have been out the door and down the street. Walt Disney’s philosophy was that every attraction should be accessible to everyone of any age, height, medical condition, size, etc. so that families could enjoy it together.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, a lot of the Cast I work with and I am sure&nbsp;the public do not like Mickey's new look. I like it actually. Here's what Mickey now looks like...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MY2EeYEPWvE/Wleq9dBJ5rI/AAAAAAAAxfA/tPQTnr3YOhAvIaNSCFAuslfaXFJ4aFrOgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-11%2Bat%2B1.19.56%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="273" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MY2EeYEPWvE/Wleq9dBJ5rI/AAAAAAAAxfA/tPQTnr3YOhAvIaNSCFAuslfaXFJ4aFrOgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-11%2Bat%2B1.19.56%2BPM.png" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> What is your take on this?<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> The Disney company felt that kids today think Mickey Mouse is too old. That’s one of the reasons they no longer make a big deal about celebrating his birthday (even though he will be 90 in 2018) but celebrate “89 years WITH Mickey." I told an executive when all of this started with Mickey’s 75th birthday that “how can you celebrate 75 years WITH Mickey if Mickey isn’t at least 75 years old?” He very condescendingly told me how stupid they thought kids were that they wouldn’t realize that fact. To me, Mickey is timeless and maybe even frozen in time like Sherlock Holmes so doesn’t age. For the new series of Mickey cartoons on the Disney Channel, they cut Mickey Mouse short cartoons from the traditional seven minutes in length to three minutes because they felt children no longer have a longer attention span. They selected a stylized version of Mickey Mouse not only to mimic the latest designs in animation (just check out the other current animation shows) but to suggest the Mickey Mouse of the 1930s when he was an adventurer, a rebel and a little bit rude. That’s one of the reasons to use the pie-eyes that were used during that time period. They even avoided using the official voice of Mickey Mouse, Bret Iwan, because executive producer Paul Rudish said he wanted an “edgier” tone so he brought in Chris Diamantopoulos. Diamantopoulos has had an extensive acting career from portraying Robin Williams, Frank Sinatra and Moe Howard of the Three Stooges to lots of prominent roles in television series. He’s done a lot of voice work for the Warner Brothers superhero cartoons like "Batman Unlimited." Basically, they wanted to get away from Mickey Mouse as a suburban corporate icon and make him “dangerous” and “young." We will see the same version of the character in the new attraction coming to Disney Hollywood Studios.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Alright, let's talk about your latest book "Call Me Walt: Everything&nbsp;You Never Knew About Walt Disney."&nbsp;There's been sooooo many books about Walt, Jim, how is this book&nbsp;different?<br /><br /><b>Jim: </b>In the first place, it is not another biography. There are dozens of biographies about Walt Disney both in English and multiple foreign languages as well as additional references to his life in countless other books, magazines, newspaper stories and more. Yet all of them define Walt by his accomplishments: Mickey Mouse, <i>Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</i>, audio-animatronics, Disneyland and so on. They don’t seem to have any room for Walt as a person, a son, a brother, a husband, father and grandfather. Where did he buy his clothes? What different cars did he drive? Did he also have cats as pets besides dogs? What charities did he donate to without fanfare? Did he believe in God and did he pray every day? What two television game shows did Walt and Lillian love watching in the evening as they ate on trays in front of the TV? What were Walt’s political views? What things did he do with his grandchildren that they still remember vividly fifty years after he died? How much did Walt Disney weigh? How tall was Walt? Who was his ophthalmologist who prescribed reading glasses that Walt never wanted to be photographed wearing? The answers to all those questions and many, many more like them are in the book along with documentation. I never mention Mickey Mouse, Disneyland, audio-animatronics or any of the rest. In addition there are individual chapters for each of his brothers, sister, father and mother, wife and daughters. There is even a chapter where I quote his grandchildren about their personal experiences with him and how he let them suck on the ice that was in his glass of Scotch to get a taste. Plus, I have included twelve chapters debunking the most common myths about Walt like he was frozen or anti-Semitic or was born in Spain and again, I included documentation. However, people will still continue to believe whatever they want to believe but maybe some of this will help.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>What made you decide to write a new book about Walt?<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> I realized that so many people who actually knew Walt have gotten to that age that they are passing away and can no longer step up and defend Walt from all the false accusations that have cropped up. Just look at all the people that we lost including Marty Sklar who was such an articulate spokesman about Walt. I remember having this discussion with Diane Disney Miller at the Disney Family Museum in San Francisco many years ago where she was upset that Walt was becoming a “thing” to put on merchandise and that new generations had no idea he was a real person. It’s one of the reasons she built the museum, to help people understand Walt as a human being. Fortunately, over the decades I have had the opportunity to interview Imagineers and animators and more who worked closely with Walt so I thought I would share their stories. I make no assumptions in the text. It is all facts with quotes from Walt, those who knew him and reference material that can be trusted. Many Walt biographies try to psychoanalyze what Walt may have been thinking. People who knew him said you could never guess what Walt was thinking. You’d bring him something you were sure he would like and he would rip it apart. I just supply the facts and the readers can make their own assumptions.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Researching it is there anything even you didn't know about him?<br /><br /><b>Jim: </b>Tons of stuff and I tried to put as much as I could into the book. One of Walt’s favorite pastimes when he went to the mountains to ski was ski-joring [a winter sport where a person on skis is pulled by a horse, a dog (or dog team) or a motor vehicle] and so that activity might have ended up at the never completed Mineral King ski resort project. Walt still owned shares in the Sugar Bowl ski resort as the time of his death. Diane told me, “I remember going through dad’s dresser drawers one time looking for something. He kept things in them like a collection of matchboxes and soap packages from hotels and I used to find those fascinating. I found a newspaper clipping one time with the headline on it about his mother’s death. He would never talk about her death.”<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>With a lot of the sexual&nbsp;misconduct allegations that are coming out now in&nbsp;Hollywood if Walt was alive today do you&nbsp;think&nbsp;anybody would accuse him?<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> Nope, Walt was clean as a whistle. Never any gossip about him. He never told a dirty joke. He always respected women and in 1939 posted a memo at the studio that read in part, “Attention has been called to the rather gross language being used by some members in the presence of our female employees. It has always been Walt’s hope that the Studio could be a place where girls can be employed without fear of embarrassment or humiliation.” This is decades before the term “sexual harassment” was coined, let alone enforced, and Walt is standing up for women to be treated with respect and not harrassed. Animator Ward Kimball told me, “He didn’t play around like the other studio heads. He had a wife, and that was it. I’d swear that Walt didn’t have broads on the side because it would have taken too much of his time.” I have an entire chapter in the book devoted to Walt’s great respect for all women. It is another of those myths that women could only work in Ink and Paint. Walt had women in positions of authority, let them wear pants to work (something very uncommon in those days) and unlike other animation studios there were female animators, story people and more.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>One of the things you talk about in the book is was Walt racist? Was he?<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> Walt was not racist in the least even considering the time period when he lived which was casually racist. The foreword to the book is by Disney Legend Floyd Norman who was a black animator who among other things shared, “I personally never saw any racist behavior or words from Walt. When I was there in the 1950s and 1960s, I knew Claude Wilson who was the black janitor at the studio." A janitor is pretty much invisible in that people never pay much attention to him so he was able to overhear uncensored conversations as he was cleaning up. He never heard Walt being racist or others talking about Walt being racist. "He also moonlighted as a bartender at many of Walt’s parties when they were held as Walt’s home in Holmby Hills. This older black gentleman who ran the bar always spoke well of Walt and loved working for him. Since we spoke privately, had there been anything to indicate racism, this old guy would have made his feelings known to me to warn me to be careful. I was always struck by Walt’s openness, fairness and honesty.” Floyd was personally hired by Walt and personally promoted by Walt to a storyman on <i>Jungle Book</i>. Being a storyman was the highest status at the studio. Floyd did share that there were people who were racist who worked at the studio. He was up for a job in layout and didn’t get it because the supervisor felt uncomfortable working with someone who was “colored” but Walt never knew and Floyd ended up with a much better position. Look at the film <i>Disneyland U.S.A.</i> from 1956 and when they show the Autopia, there are two black girls who are happily getting into their own cars. Not all entertainment venues allowed minorities to participate. And it wasn’t just black people, Walt hired Japanese artists during World War II and told one of them if they were asked where they were from they were to respond, “I am an American” because it was nobody’s business but their own. They were lying and saying they were part Chinese, part Korean, etc. All of those stories are in a chapter in the book as well.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I always wondered if&nbsp;Walt had a sense&nbsp;off&nbsp;humor and would&nbsp;laugh at&nbsp;himself... did he?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> Definitely. Walt never told jokes but he had a disarming sense of humor. Animator Bill Justice told me, “I remember when a Canadian radio station interviewer asked him how many people worked at the studio, Walt paused a moment to think and replied with a straight face, ‘Oh, about half.'” Walt took what he did seriously but he never took himself completely seriously. He’d joke when he messed up doing the introductions to his television show and never blamed others. Just take a look at newsreels and such and you see he had a very easy smile and laugh. Again, I have an entire chapter devoted to Walt’s sense of humor.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Why did&nbsp;people call him the Dark Prince of Hollywood, Jim?<br /><br /><b>Jim: </b>That came from the Marc Elliott book that has been often completely debunked since it was first published but people like to think there is some hidden agenda. Even Walt promoted himself as the “Walt Disney brand” which is almost too perfect so people want to tear into it and find the dark agenda behind it all. Especially this last year we saw people like Bill Cosby who had this goody-goody image but was hiding horrible acts. The only thing I found that Walt hid, and did so poorly, was the tremendous amount of physical pain he was in, especially the last two years of his life. Not just his polo injury but sinuses that had to be drained sometimes twice a week, dental problems that prevented him from sleeping, severe arthritis, and more. I suspect that is was caused him to sometimes lash out and be grumpy at times. Walt was not a saint. He had a terrible temper. People were intimidated by him. He didn’t compliment people to their face. He held grudges. He was impatient. Basically he was human, something that people forget. Basically, the Walt you saw on those introductions to his television show was pretty much the real Walt.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Is there a favorite thing about Walt that you like or something you didn't like about him?<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> I definitely did not like his temper or that he made fun of others and thought it was funny. Walt sometimes loved to do practical jokes on the unsuspecting and shy Ub Iwerks. The classic prank around 1927 was when Walt arranged a date with a pretty co-worker named Margaret Metzinger who Ub liked but lacked the courage to engage. He sent Ub in his place who was unaware he would be meeting Margaret. It was an awkward dinner date especially for the often tongue-tied Ub. Walt hid behind some nearby plants in the restaurant and filmed much of it and then ran the film for other artists at the studio making comments. He was completely oblivious to the fact that Ub felt humiliated. Walt just felt it was funny but it was probably things like this that resulted in Iwerks leaving the Disney Studio in 1930. One of my favorite things was discovering how much Walt was interested in lawn bowling both at his home at the Smoke Tree Ranch and also with the Beverly Hills Lawn Bowling Club. While Walt was concentrating on the Florida Project, Mineral King, California Institute of the Arts, <i>Mary Poppins</i>&nbsp;and so much more, he was spending a good deal of his time participating in lawn bowling tournaments with his hand-tooled bowling bag. Even today, there is an annual international lawn bowling tournament that awards a four-foot tall perpetual trophy made of solid Brazilian redwood with imbeds of Walt’s four personal lawn bowls along the base and is topped by a golden foot-high Mickey Mouse figurine. In 1964, Walt participated in the United States Lawn Bowling Championships at Buck Hills Falls, in the Pocono Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania with his Beverly Hills team in the U.S. Doubles Tournament. He was excited that he was able to take the team and their spouses there for the competition.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>If you ever could go back in time and meet him what&nbsp;would you tell him or ask him?<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> I would probably just thank him for his optimism and inspiration. I would want him to know how he made a significant positive difference in my life. My life really is richer for having studied Disney history and trying to understand this very ordinary man who was so extraordinary. If I was given a chance to ask a question it would be hard because I have thousands of questions and the answers to those questions would lead to thousands more.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, how long did it take you to write this book, Jim? Was it an easy book to put together?<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> It was <i>not</i> an easy book to put together. When people ask me how long it takes to write a book, they usually expect an answer like “a couple of years” but my answer is usually “all of my life." I started gathering material about Walt decades ago because I was always interested in him. I would look for little personal anecdotes in newspaper and magazine stories. In fact, when I interviewed people who worked with Walt, one of my questions was always if they had a favorite memory or anecdote about him. Many of those are shared in my book. Fortunately, I got to know Diane Disney Miller, Walt’s oldest daughter, and she was helpful but she died from a tragic accident while she still had so much more she could have contributed.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I have to say I love the cover... who did it? It's pretty funny.<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> I love the cover. It was done by a good friend of mine, Dave Bennett, a talented cartoonist and animator who has worked on Disney projects. Dave was a top animator at Rick Reinert Productions doing work on the Captain O.G. Readmore specials like "Jack and the Beanstalk," "O.G. Readmore Meets Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and "Puss In Boots." One of my personal favorites was the half-hour adaptation of the Art Buchwald story of leopards, "The Bollo Caper" where Dave was deeply involved in all aspects. In 1981, Reinert Productions was responsible for animating the educational film <i>Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons</i> for Walt Disney Educational Media. Disney was so impressed with their work that they were given the assignment to produce and animate the next theatrically released Winnie the Pooh animated featurette, <i>Winnie the Pooh and A Day for Eeyore</i>. They also did the only animated film featuring the well loved Orange Bird: <i>Orange Bird: Food and Fun</i>.&nbsp;Dave was involved with all of that. The illustration is based on a black and white cover Dave did for an animation fanzine entitled "Animato! #10" that was published in 1986. I was writing a column of anecdotes about animation for that very same issue. The fanzine had a very, very low distribution and like so many others I loved his cover and felt it deserved a wider audience. So I contacted him, suggested some changes and this updated version is even better than the original.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Floyd Norman wrote the&nbsp;forward to the book like you said... tell the&nbsp;readers who that is, and how did&nbsp;you approach him to write it?<br /><br /><b>Jim: </b>Floyd Norman is a black animator who worked on the Walt Disney animated features <i>Sleeping Beauty</i>, <i>The Sword in the Stone</i> and <i>The Jungle Book</i> as well as various animated short projects at Disney in the late 1950s and early 1960s. After Walt Disney's death in 1966, Floyd left the Disney Studios to work at a variety of different animation studios. Floyd returned to Disney in the early 1970s to work on the Disney animated feature <i>Robin Hood</i> and several projects for Disney Publishing. He contributed creatively as a story artist on films such as <i>Toy Story 2</i>, <i>Monsters, Inc.</i>, <i>Mulan</i>, <i>Dinosaur</i> and <i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> among others. He continues to work for the Walt Disney Company as a freelance consultant on various projects. He was inducted as a Disney Legend in 2007. I first met Floyd when he was working at Hanna-Barbera in the 1980s on things like "The Smurfs." I was writing extensively about animation in those days so I got to interview him about his career in animation. Floyd very graciously wrote the foreword to my book, "Who’s Afraid of the Song of the South?" We’ve kept in touch and originally, Marty Sklar had agreed to write the foreword to "Call Me Walt" but when he passed away suddenly and unexpectedly, I wanted to find someone else who had worked with the Walt that most of us saw on television in the 1950s and 1960s. Fortunately, Floyd was just as upset as I was about the false assumptions that were being made about Walt so he agreed to help out.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b>&nbsp;Cool. Since you were here you had another book out&nbsp;which I have to mention...&nbsp;"OTHER Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Other Things You Never Knew You Never Knew." I love&nbsp;this one as much as the first one in this series. You talk&nbsp;about&nbsp;the Lone Ranger in Frontierland... tell the readers about that.<br /><br /><b>Jim: </b>Scattered throughout WDW’s Pecos Bill’s Tall Tale Inn &amp; Café (which is supposed to be like an Old West version of Planet Hollywood with all the memorabilia) are Buffalo Bill’s boots, a giant axe belonging to Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed’s tin pot-hat, Kit Carson’s scouting tools, Davy Crockett’s satchel and powder horn, John Henry’s hammer, Jim Bowie’s famous knife and Slue Foot Sue’s spurs and gloves. One item that sometimes puzzles guests is a display of a black mask and a silver bullet but no identification plaque leading people to ask the famous question, “Who was that Masked Man?” Obviously, the answer is the Lone Ranger and at the time of its installation, Disney did not have the rights to the character. There was a Disney connection with the character. Jack Wrather who owned the Disneyland Hotel also owned the rights to the Lone Ranger and in the early years of Disneyland allowed actor Clayton Moore garbed in his full television costume to visit Disneyland for publicity purposes including riding the Mark Twain steamboat with children. I am glad you love this book because a lot of other people did as well so I have the rough outline for the fourth volume in the series. That should come out in fall 2018.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Also, what is a secret about something in World Showcase?<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> Inside the pyramid in the Mexico pavilion is a mixture of Aztec and Mayan elements. The typical marketplace setting is officially called Plaza de Los Amigos, or “Plaza of Friends." During the day would be a time of siesta with limited activity so the interior was themed to be enclosed and suggest nighttime and fiesta to help explain why there are so many people and so much activity. The China pavilion was the location for the music video of the song “Reflection” performed by a then relatively- unknown young girl singer, Christina Aguilera to promote the 1998 Disney animated feature film <i>Mulan</i>. The pavilion is so authentic that animators from Disney Feature Animation Florida often visited and sketched details there for use in the final film.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>You talk about the turkey legs that they sell. They are emu legs, Jim! Do you&nbsp;believe that? I saw a box in the tunnel at Epcot once&nbsp;that said "emu legs Ocala, Fl." Turkeys are not that big.<br /><br /><b>Jim: </b>You know, I used to think that as well. Andrew Zimmern, host of Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods" stated, “I can put everyone's mind at rest. It can't be emu. I’ve eaten emu. It's too big, And the meat would be a little more beefy. Emu has the consistency of turkey leg but the flavor of roasted veal. It's got mild beefiness to it and a little more metallic." In general, an emu leg would be about eight times the size of a turkey leg. “People are accustomed to Thanksgiving turkeys, which are female birds, or hens which are traditionally much smaller; the males, called toms, are bigger... up to fifty pounds apiece... and their legs are the ones that Disney serves,” said Keith M. Williams, a vice president at the National Turkey Federation, an industry trade group. Federal law prohibits the use of steroids to make turkeys and their legs meatier. However, farmers are raising larger turkeys because of demand and so the legs are larger as well.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I still say it's emu. Ha! Okay, so,&nbsp;last time you were here I asked&nbsp;you&nbsp;about some&nbsp;Disney urban legends... so I thought I'll ask you again&nbsp;about some that are Walt related. What's this rumor that he was an&nbsp;illegitimate child? Is that true?<br /><br /><b>Jim: </b>Walt was very legitimate if something of a surprise for Elias and Flora since he was born eight years after their last child, Roy. There is plenty of evidence that he was born December 5th, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois on the second floor of a home that Elias built. There is no birth certificate because it was not required by law in Illinois at the turn of the century, especially for a birth taking place at home without a doctor in attendance. However, there is an official baptism certificate for Walt from St. Paul’s Congregational Church in Chicago on June 8th, 1902. If Walt were illegitimate, it would mean he was adopted and Elias and Flora didn’t have the money to adopt another kid especially trying to feed and clothe three sons. If they did somehow decide to adopt, they would have adopted a girl which is what they really wanted and finally got one shortly after Walt with Ruth.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Was he&nbsp;discharged dishonorably from the army, Jim?<br /><br /><b>Jim: </b>The easy answer is that Walt could never have been dishonorably discharged, court-martialed or any other negative action taken against him by the U.S. military because Walt never served in any branch of the U.S. military. He was too young to be in the military. He did join a Red Cross Ambulance unit but that was a civilian organization but people mistake it for actual military service. He was not kicked out of the Red Cross Ambulance unit either.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>And where and how did this&nbsp;rumor of Walt being in cryonic storage ever start? That's the&nbsp;biggest urban legend of all, right? Is that where Disney On Ice comes&nbsp;from? Hahaha.<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> Walt didn’t allow anyone to visit him in the hospital except his immediate family. No one knew how sick he really was and never saw him deteriorating. When he died, it was a private funeral with a handful of family at Forest Lawn on December 16th and the next day his remains were cremated. Even his sister Ruth in Portland was told not to fly down because they feared media would follow her. So, basically, one day Walt just disappeared and the last that many people saw of him he seemed okay. If you were going to cryogenically freeze someone, you would have to do it immediately especially in those earliest of days of the technology. Walt was left in his hospital bed for a couple of hours at St. Joseph’s Hospital across the street from the Disney Studio so the family could arrive and say their “good-byes." The first cryonic suspension took place just a month after Disney’s death. Dr. James Bedford, a 73-year-old psychologist from Glendale, was suspended by Bob Nelson and his cryonics team on January 12th, 1967. Bedford has yet to be revived. So just like many people couldn’t believe that Elvis died at the height of his fame and fortune and supposedly kept seeing him pop up places, people couldn’t accept that Walt was gone especially since in the last moments of his life he was still planning Epcot and other projects. The rumor supposedly started with a smart aleck remark by animator Ward Kimball during an interview for a French magazine in 1969. When I confronted Kimball about it during an interview in 1985, he said, “When Disney fans ask me if it’s true that Walt’s body is kept frozen for future resurrection, I answer that question by pointing out that Walt was always intensely interested in things scientific and he, more than any person I knew, just might have been curious enough to agree to such an experiment. He was cremated really.”<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Alright, anything new that&nbsp;you are working on? I am sure you are working on a number of new books.<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> I’m always working on several projects at the same time so if I get writer’s block or get stuck, I can jump to another project and clear my mind and then jump back. Right now I am working on a book called "More Secret Stories of Disneyland." The first volume came out early last year and was well received. It was an extremely tough book to write because there are so many books about Disneyland trivia as well as websites, podcasts and more. Everyone thinks they are a Disneyland expert. So I struggled to find stories not in other books or correct the wrong stories everyone repeats or to give some new insight into familiar stories. Thankfully, I have interviewed many of the people who worked on Disneyland so I could use some of that material. This new book is even harder because I have already picked the “low hanging fruit," the stories that were fairly obvious, for the first book and now I have to find almost a hundred more stories in a similar vein. However, I am a fourth of the way done with some interesting surprises. Hopefully, it will be out by the summer of 2018. Writing is hard work. I schedule time every day, including weekends and holidays to write. Some of that stuff eventually gets tossed away or severely edited but eventually I seem to end up with something interesting.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Jim, do you know anything about the Disney records sold at Gulf gas stations in the 60s?<br /><br /><b>Jim:</b> Gulf was a prominent sponsor of NBCs "The Wonderful World of Disney" throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, offering a series of premiums to encourage kids to have their parents fill up the car at a Gulf service station. Among the goodies were a set of placemats and a series of magazines called "World of Disney," which was largely reused material from previous issues of "Mickey Mouse Club Magazine" and "Walt Disneys Magazine" and lasted five issues. "Walt Disney’s Happiest Songs" was released in 1967 and "Walt Disney’s Merriest Songs" in 1968. Gulf created some commercials, primarily for the weekly Disney television show, promoting the albums. Celebrity names on the album would help grab the attention of grown ups so the records proclaimed such stars as Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and Phil Harris from the animation soundtracks but also stars like Mary Martin, Louis Armstrong and Louis Prima who recorded Disney records with “covers” of Disney songs. Every track compiled on these albums was from a concurrently available Disney album so that anyone who liked one song in particular could later purchase the entire album from which it was borrowed for this premium. Gulf was one of the first corporate sponsors of Walt Disney World and used to sponsor the Car Care Center at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Thanks so much for&nbsp;being back on the Phile. Please come back again soon, Jim. Take care. Keep up&nbsp;the good work&nbsp;and I'll have you back on the Phile again soon.<br /><br /><b>Jim: </b>Thank YOU for allowing me to share some Disney information and to promote my latest book. As I said, I am already working on my next book so I hope to be back soon. I hope your readers enjoy my rambling away. I just get so excited to share this information with others.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Always, Jim. Speak to you soon.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RpKeSv8kXak/WleymZEY13I/AAAAAAAAxfQ/OOP6OtbOJsEJG3iupdBeMPqTGdQyR7LnQCLcBGAs/s1600/51-j1AxXSIL._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="324" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RpKeSv8kXak/WleymZEY13I/AAAAAAAAxfQ/OOP6OtbOJsEJG3iupdBeMPqTGdQyR7LnQCLcBGAs/s400/51-j1AxXSIL._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to my guests Jeff Trelewicz and Jim Korkis. The Phile will be back on Sunday with singer Parker Matthews. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UMGa4ZKAm2w/WlezyHp0IBI/AAAAAAAAxfY/ATzwQTze248f6aLKRFdjXQwYo0IhGDzzwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_87d.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="736" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UMGa4ZKAm2w/WlezyHp0IBI/AAAAAAAAxfY/ATzwQTze248f6aLKRFdjXQwYo0IhGDzzwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_87d.jpeg" width="385" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-58693566741017468302018-01-08T12:16:00.000-05:002018-01-08T12:16:42.850-05:00The Peverett Phile 12th Anniversary Special Pheaturing Noel Gallagher From Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IOQi2GAhQ-A/WlODuF9HYpI/AAAAAAAAxTc/ifh6Uz3Zk1U9jlUMYL0oWdLc48QBP4JVACLcBGAs/s1600/12th.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IOQi2GAhQ-A/WlODuF9HYpI/AAAAAAAAxTc/ifh6Uz3Zk1U9jlUMYL0oWdLc48QBP4JVACLcBGAs/s400/12th.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hey</b>, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. It's the Phile's 12th Anniversary today, or as I like to call it 12 Years of Phile. How are you doing? It's common knowledge that celebrities regularly deal in sums of money most of us don't see in a year. But even so, it's still jolting to hear about hundreds of thousands of dollars being casually laid out. On Saturday night, Brad Pitt bid $120,000 to watch "Game of Thrones" with the Mother of Dragons herself actress Emilia Clarke alongside her co-star Kit Harrington (the beloved Jon Snow). While his offer was certainly generous, Pitt was eventually outbid by a gala attendee who offered up $160,000 to watch an episode of "GoT" with the stars. The silent auction took place during Sean Penn's annual gala for Haiti, the proceeds of which benefit J/P HRO &amp; Disaster Relief Organizations. The offers for a "GoT" viewing date with the two stars was kicked off at $20,000, and quickly escalated into six digits after the auctioneer riled up attendees by shouting, "Is the King of the North here?!" Beyond the transcendent presence of the Mother of Dragons and Jon Snow himself, the fundraiser guest list included several top billed names including Lena Dunham, Patricia Arquette, Jason Segel and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was honored for his climate change work and gave a short speech about the importance of staying vigilant despite the current administration. "The biggest challenge now is to make sure that everyone understands what’s at stake. But how can we do this when we have a president who, just this week, proposed a massive increase in offshore drilling?," DiCaprio lamented. While it's a definite bummer that Pitt wasn't able to fulfill his dream of watching "GoT" with the Mother of Dragons herself, it's comforting to know the funds went towards an important cause.<br /><b>Last </b>night, "New York Times" columnist Charles Blow pointed to a sweater being advertised on H&amp;M's British website, a green hoodie emblazoned with the text "coolest monkey in the jungle." The choice of child model led Blow ask a reasonable question of H&amp;M...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PeHYYuYu5RQ/WlOFh93MJ-I/AAAAAAAAxTo/e2DXRYrUMvA4tbJXOQg1grb8nVzx0ueHACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-08%2Bat%2B9.50.54%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="501" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PeHYYuYu5RQ/WlOFh93MJ-I/AAAAAAAAxTo/e2DXRYrUMvA4tbJXOQg1grb8nVzx0ueHACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-08%2Bat%2B9.50.54%2BAM.png" width="375" /></a></div><br />As pointed out by the Huffington Post, "the term 'monkey' has a long history as an ethnic slur." The reaction was outrage across the board, as most onlookers refused to believe the posting was an innocent, or ignorant, mistake. As Blow's tweet went viral, several tweeters pointed to other articles of clothing in the same category, noting that those sweatshirts all featured white child models. By this morning, H&amp;M had removed the image and released a statement. Via CNN, "This image has now been removed from all H&amp;M channels and we apologize to anyone this may have offended." The debacle is reminiscent of the backlash against Dove back in October, when the following ad went viral for similar reasons to H&amp;M's.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ftZFIJRAk4s/WlOGMK7i_MI/AAAAAAAAxTs/s5p0zHJNaYQuGK-lXC7SgEC2svUujnFhwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-08%2Bat%2B9.54.16%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="243" data-original-width="241" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ftZFIJRAk4s/WlOGMK7i_MI/AAAAAAAAxTs/s5p0zHJNaYQuGK-lXC7SgEC2svUujnFhwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-08%2Bat%2B9.54.16%2BAM.png" width="396" /></a></div><br />Here's hoping we can keep all our sweaters and body wash racism-free in 2018.<br /><b>Picking</b> out the right Christmas gifts for in-laws can be a daunting task no matter what, even more so if they're royalty. However, Prince Harry's fiance Meghan Markle was fully up to the task during her first holiday with the royal family, and bought the Queen a gift so funny it left her temporarily in stitches. According to The Daily Star Online, The Royals observe their German ancestry by exchanging gifts each year. Since no family member is in want of serious presents, the tradition skews more towards humorous gifts. In keeping with the lighthearted theme, Markle gifted the Queen a singing hamster. "Meghan bought a little hamster that sings with a little rope for Her Majesty. It was so funny, especially when the corgis tried to take hold of the toy," an anonymous source told "The Daily Star." The source went on to say that the Queen was delighted by Markle's bold and absurd gift, but no one was quite as overjoyed as the royal corgis. "She laughed and said ‘they can keep my dogs company!,'" the source said. It looks like Markle is continuing to kill it when it comes to charming her soon-to-be Royal in-laws. The right singing hamster can go a long way.<br /><b>During</b> the Sunday morning episode of "State of the Union," CNN's Jake Tapper cut short a heated interview with White House adviser Stephen Miller, claiming the guest had been "wasting enough of our viewers’ time." While the interview was meant to address critical statements from former White House strategist Steve Bannon in Michael Wolff’s new book, "Fire and Fury," Miller spent several minutes slamming CNN's coverage instead of answering Tapper's questions. The interview's high note started when Miller deflected questions about Bannon's White House criticisms in "Fire and Fury," by claiming the comments were grotesque without providing counter evidence. From there, the interview rapidly went downhill. "It’s tragic and unfortunate that Steve would make these grotesque comments so out of touch with reality and obviously so vindictive," lamented the White House adviser, who later went on to call Wolff "a garbage author of a garbage book." When Tapper further pressed Miller for information on their relationship, the guest lodged into a personal attack on the CNN correspondent. "Look, you can be as condescending as you want, it’s part of your M.O." Miller said, of Tapper. Miller went on to clarify that he was only attacking Tapper because CNN has "24 hours of negative anti-Trump hysterical coverage” and “spectacularly embarrassing false reporting." Once Tapper determined that Miller was fully resigned to being uncooperative, the interview was cut short. Naturally, not everyone agreed with what the true outcome of the interview was. President Trump himself tweeted a response shortly after the segment. From his perspective, the interview got cut short because Miller was killing it.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ey6ugZgbZQs/WlOJq6b5wRI/AAAAAAAAxT8/JPiEcqaKrqcJVp1SxKNpBEzoLiWL7XWsACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-08%2Bat%2B10.09.08%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="496" height="156" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ey6ugZgbZQs/WlOJq6b5wRI/AAAAAAAAxT8/JPiEcqaKrqcJVp1SxKNpBEzoLiWL7XWsACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-08%2Bat%2B10.09.08%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Given the fact that Trump dubbed CNN as "fake news" a year ago, it's hardly surprising he saw the interview as a win for Miller, despite the majority of Twitter.<br /><b>Passages</b> from Michael Wolff's tell-all book "Fire and Fury" have taken the Internet by storm, and in moments, this obsession has even led people to mistake Twitter jokes for actual samples from the book. The most delightfully absurd example of this confusion occurred when Twitter user Pixelated Boat posted a satirical excerpt claiming Trump watches The Gorilla Channel daily for hours on end. As detailed in the text, the fictional Gorilla Channel is a 24/7 streaming station that shows gorillas playing and fighting each other. The fake channel, of course, was created by White House staff who edited clips from gorilla documentaries to appease the president. Pixelated Boat expected the Internet to understand it was a joke, however, several people soon mistook the tweet as an actual excerpt from "Fire and Fury." The fact that people could believe this speaks volumes about the president. Even after being officially dispelled, the joke has gone so far that Netflix has now asked people to stop inquiring about The Gorilla Channel. This begs the question... how hard would it be to create gorilla channel? It's obviously what the people want in 2018, might as well give it to them.<br /><b>Hey</b>, did you ever read those Nancy Drew books when you were a kid? I didn't as they were written for girls I think, but there's one I need to read. I think it'll be a good one.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-za53PLpXAes/WlOMJ-_LTEI/AAAAAAAAxUE/OXdus7FJ86oabQftm-fS5eOyHEpAyvX-ACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_84b.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1088" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-za53PLpXAes/WlOMJ-_LTEI/AAAAAAAAxUE/OXdus7FJ86oabQftm-fS5eOyHEpAyvX-ACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_84b.jpeg" width="256" /></a></div><br />Haha. Some people here in Florida sure try to get away with getting stupid shit on their license plates. Like this one...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iKTZV8vPrp4/WlONClEt8AI/AAAAAAAAxUQ/ZFny82P71w0DSX0KQqQQ0HkbOHwZJjZ9QCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_84c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="624" height="158" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iKTZV8vPrp4/WlONClEt8AI/AAAAAAAAxUQ/ZFny82P71w0DSX0KQqQQ0HkbOHwZJjZ9QCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_84c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hey, remember Harry and Ron from Harry Potter? This is them now...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DlqcRbpsRkU/WlONmfKODBI/AAAAAAAAxUU/Jex7V7J7W9c4ivoag6bktIjDboLLZi0nACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_84f.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="308" height="393" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DlqcRbpsRkU/WlONmfKODBI/AAAAAAAAxUU/Jex7V7J7W9c4ivoag6bktIjDboLLZi0nACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_84f.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Feel old yet? Haha. If I had a TARDIS I would like to and see Mount Rushmore. Knowing my luck though I'd go back in time and they'd still be carving the thing.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tuyrRe4eduQ/WlOOG2JfDHI/AAAAAAAAxUY/Cexp5fAKmFk3J-KJYl8uee3f64iHexzaQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_852.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="504" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tuyrRe4eduQ/WlOOG2JfDHI/AAAAAAAAxUY/Cexp5fAKmFk3J-KJYl8uee3f64iHexzaQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_852.jpeg" width="298" /></a></div><br />So, the other day I was meant to Google "Machu Picchu" and instead I Googled "Machu Pikachu" and this is what I got...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wMAsb2N2Hfc/WlOPAnr3gFI/AAAAAAAAxUk/lsQi1dFW_n0OZivmLTV6qTQ1bo4rWvMDgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_853.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="918" height="367" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wMAsb2N2Hfc/WlOPAnr3gFI/AAAAAAAAxUk/lsQi1dFW_n0OZivmLTV6qTQ1bo4rWvMDgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_853.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Looks amazing though, right? If you're thinking of cheating on your loved one you might want to think twice after seeing this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WxL-0-W1TAc/WlOPl4Q64UI/AAAAAAAAxUo/qXLPCRWuUhQZcvtclwTmvbutEVNrrEDDwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_5e9.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WxL-0-W1TAc/WlOPl4Q64UI/AAAAAAAAxUo/qXLPCRWuUhQZcvtclwTmvbutEVNrrEDDwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_5e9.jpeg" width="391" /></a></div><br />Man, that's a lot of shot to read. Like you don't have enough to read here. I apologize. Remember in school when they used to teach you the recorder? Well, I might take it up again after seeing this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gm-EedAFdns/WlOQRwVDPoI/AAAAAAAAxUs/YFw2GTpqGh42mtduvfMbWF4VPbcwpMu2wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2722.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gm-EedAFdns/WlOQRwVDPoI/AAAAAAAAxUs/YFw2GTpqGh42mtduvfMbWF4VPbcwpMu2wCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2722.JPG" width="393" /></a></div><br />Music is fun! Hey, people in Florida, it's gonna start to get warm again... they caught her.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y6VWknf4jNE/WlOQvTp_OfI/AAAAAAAAxU0/AHkPYpjpdJ8hmufOQFxa1kNPsZlB-1gCACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_854.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="873" height="302" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y6VWknf4jNE/WlOQvTp_OfI/AAAAAAAAxU0/AHkPYpjpdJ8hmufOQFxa1kNPsZlB-1gCACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_854.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Okay, so, there's one thing about the Internet that is really good and this is it's so easy to look at porn. The problem though is it's too easy, and someone might get bored reading the Phile and go straight to porn. I know I would. So, I thought why not show a porn pic here on the Phile? The problem with that is you might be reading this at work, school, with your kids around, and I don't want to to get in trouble. So, I came up with a conclusion and think it works...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GBIfBbTlmWs/WlORTTmn0hI/AAAAAAAAxU4/mQ3joIBuVZw0kRWnoVId2I-7qfB3dDvUgCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_840.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="640" height="231" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GBIfBbTlmWs/WlORTTmn0hI/AAAAAAAAxU4/mQ3joIBuVZw0kRWnoVId2I-7qfB3dDvUgCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_840.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>You are welcome. I think that pic is photoshopped... Chuck Norris would never wear a viking helmet. Hahaha. So, the Phile started out on January 8th, 2006 and since then a lot of celebrities have changed. For the next few weeks I will show you some who have changed the most. Today we'll start with this one...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HimEqG2zm8E/WlOT24OT4mI/AAAAAAAAxVM/w7z5CXg65akaVycw8JKgqi30r8R-fdeOwCLcBGAs/s1600/shutterstock110719727-J97KVU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HimEqG2zm8E/WlOT24OT4mI/AAAAAAAAxVM/w7z5CXg65akaVycw8JKgqi30r8R-fdeOwCLcBGAs/s320/shutterstock110719727-J97KVU.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Miley Cyrus went from Hannah Montana in 2007 to...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sAs9VldzPKY/WlOUEG1p6cI/AAAAAAAAxVQ/AxddpGQvngkjMpmBXdnTV0WAfdMt5cIJwCLcBGAs/s1600/mileycyrus-TxIc5y.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="700" height="293" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sAs9VldzPKY/WlOUEG1p6cI/AAAAAAAAxVQ/AxddpGQvngkjMpmBXdnTV0WAfdMt5cIJwCLcBGAs/s400/mileycyrus-TxIc5y.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Tippy Mississippi in 2018. Ha! So, how was 2017 for you? If it was bad I bet it wasn't as bad as it was for some people...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gwpn-xYirk8/WlOSPEy1mgI/AAAAAAAAxU8/MP7fzBT6Gwkf2S8dlUkpXUhlCSO5Zuf9gCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_7f7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="818" height="143" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gwpn-xYirk8/WlOSPEy1mgI/AAAAAAAAxU8/MP7fzBT6Gwkf2S8dlUkpXUhlCSO5Zuf9gCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_7f7.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Today's loser is Martin Shkreli, because he managed to get charged with a white collar crime. Do you know how hard it is to get punished for a white collar crime? DONALD TRUMP IS PRESIDENT. That's how hard it is. But notorious "pharma bro" Martin Shkreli beat the odds and managed to get a jury to find him guilty of three of eight charges of securities fraud. Oh, and while he was awaiting sentencing for his fraud conviction, this dude was jailed for posting on Facebook that he'd offer $5,000 to anyone who yanks off a lock of Hillary Clinton's hair during her book tour. Boy, bye. <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xdkJwfSpAEM/WlOUtvPYYzI/AAAAAAAAxVU/yPPHiFkSTXQkaylB1vIMA6eVJcCh7g3kgCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xdkJwfSpAEM/WlOUtvPYYzI/AAAAAAAAxVU/yPPHiFkSTXQkaylB1vIMA6eVJcCh7g3kgCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5fO9fWkeQTc/WlOVL4PsInI/AAAAAAAAxVk/dKK-0n11QEUCXWvAqZoRXafFGfuG5KMrgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5fO9fWkeQTc/WlOVL4PsInI/AAAAAAAAxVk/dKK-0n11QEUCXWvAqZoRXafFGfuG5KMrgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_0020.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />This is a hard one. If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Hahaha. Good luck. Okay, I'm sire you heard recently about the iPhone conspiracy theory turned out to be true. Well, a friend of the Phile wanted to come on here and say something about it. He's a singer, patriot and renaissance man. You know what time it is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PyCn6fl9H4w/WlOW05lG3LI/AAAAAAAAxWA/7Q4V4qyzXlg-UAWyaFj2yZZatcOJAiuaQCLcBGAs/s1600/st.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1094" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PyCn6fl9H4w/WlOW05lG3LI/AAAAAAAAxWA/7Q4V4qyzXlg-UAWyaFj2yZZatcOJAiuaQCLcBGAs/s400/st.jpg" width="273" /></a></div><br />Good morning, pluckerz. Dear Apple, thank you for deciding in your infinite wisdom to "help" all of us iPhone users. Suddenly any of your products below the iPhone 8 have been intentionally slowed down as far as performance. You claim that this has NOTHING at all to do with trying to force us to buy a new phone. You claim that this is an effort to "help improve the battery life of older iPhones." You claim that this has NOTHING to do with the recent changes in net neutrality... and you actually expect us to beLIEVE this? Oh... okay... I'd just as soon believe that Hillary is honest, Trump has an I.Q. of 160 and Samual L. Jackson can go an entire movie without using the word "motherfucker." To sum up... you're full of shit... crooked as the day is long... you're fucking us over (and you KNOW it)... THIS is exactly why people are ditching their iPhones in favor of less expensive competitor's products (that perform much better) AAAND... the way I see it... YOU can all go suck a whole cargo tanker-full of dead, festering, herpes infected cocks that have been sitting in the sun for a month on the loading dock of some third world shithole of a country... you miserable fucking cunts.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2tjxiiYEYuQ/WlOXfiOVX9I/AAAAAAAAxWE/XCf7D8BjGpw7WYSQh6Y5WIVGkVFAcmUgACLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="400" height="187" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2tjxiiYEYuQ/WlOXfiOVX9I/AAAAAAAAxWE/XCf7D8BjGpw7WYSQh6Y5WIVGkVFAcmUgACLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ydc9udeQiso/WlOX4K72MWI/AAAAAAAAxWQ/TMLUGOn_e3Q40Z0Wahap0WbwwQJRgqE4QCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_857.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="921" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ydc9udeQiso/WlOX4K72MWI/AAAAAAAAxWQ/TMLUGOn_e3Q40Z0Wahap0WbwwQJRgqE4QCLcBGAs/s640/fullsizeoutput_857.jpeg" width="416" /></a></div><br />Hmmm. And now for some sad news...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sSN5DD1ido8/WlOYCUyGWLI/AAAAAAAAxWY/s1Vs5L8QZsMLIyrY8WVestyaiOgfD60ggCLcBGAs/s1600/again.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sSN5DD1ido8/WlOYCUyGWLI/AAAAAAAAxWY/s1Vs5L8QZsMLIyrY8WVestyaiOgfD60ggCLcBGAs/s400/again.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Jerry Van Dyke&nbsp;</b><br />July 27th, 1931 — January 5th, 2018<br />Tough life when you always have to play second fiddle to a Dick.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cx4a5-62G1Y/WlOaowsG2HI/AAAAAAAAxWo/PuS97uePQWsBmoeB0tGVaGFWaNtSCVZgwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="583" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cx4a5-62G1Y/WlOaowsG2HI/AAAAAAAAxWo/PuS97uePQWsBmoeB0tGVaGFWaNtSCVZgwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_25.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div><br />On Thursday, Donald Trump's feud with former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon came to a head when the President gifted Bannon his very own insulting nickname... Sloppy Steve. Trump was inspired to make the dig at Bannon in a tweet after he was quoted saying some pretty disparaging things about Trump and his administration in Michael Wolff’s highly anticipated new book, "Fire and Fury."<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XZl_OJ_ymRg/WlOb5xofa4I/AAAAAAAAxW4/3WNzenZCNWsuj5_7vsfSQL0jWfwmd26qACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-08%2Bat%2B11.26.15%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="243" data-original-width="495" height="196" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XZl_OJ_ymRg/WlOb5xofa4I/AAAAAAAAxW4/3WNzenZCNWsuj5_7vsfSQL0jWfwmd26qACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-08%2Bat%2B11.26.15%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Soon, "Sloppy Steve" was trending worldwide, with liberals and conservatives alike endorsing the new nickname. The President has a penchant for giving his adversaries derogatory nicknames... just asked Crooked Hillary, Lyin' Ted, or Little Marco. But I have to admit, Sloppy Steve might be his best. Great use of alliteration, Donny.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7_MDEjlIdhI/WlOeD5vz7qI/AAAAAAAAxXs/YitL4Nf_To0webV64DUxVyFJtsQK-UueACLcBGAs/s1600/yoursign-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7_MDEjlIdhI/WlOeD5vz7qI/AAAAAAAAxXs/YitL4Nf_To0webV64DUxVyFJtsQK-UueACLcBGAs/s400/yoursign-41.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />The 72nd book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-abS2uJJ8PIo/WlOeR5sjWdI/AAAAAAAAxXw/n1ysgeDGA7E20cniPocQ4ahhXsot92FuACLcBGAs/s1600/51-j1AxXSIL._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="324" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-abS2uJJ8PIo/WlOeR5sjWdI/AAAAAAAAxXw/n1ysgeDGA7E20cniPocQ4ahhXsot92FuACLcBGAs/s400/51-j1AxXSIL._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><br />Phile Alum and author Jim Korkis will be on the Phile on Thursday.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OGf_ST018uQ/WlOcmDOyFYI/AAAAAAAAxXQ/9FQrjzb0hooXAUPEU8hZHOqlrDG576vRQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_9c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="318" height="264" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OGf_ST018uQ/WlOcmDOyFYI/AAAAAAAAxXQ/9FQrjzb0hooXAUPEU8hZHOqlrDG576vRQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_9c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Two men are drinking in a bar at the top of the Empire State Building. One turns to the other and says, "You know, last week I discovered that if you jump from the top of this building, by the time you fall to the 10th floor, the winds around the building are so intense that they carry you around the building and back into the window." The bartender just shakes his head in disapproval while wiping the bar. The second man says, "What are you a nut? There's no way that could happen." The first man responds, "No it's true. Let me prove it to you." So he gets up from the bar, jumps over the balcony, and careens to the street below. When he passes the 10th floor, the high wind whips him around the building and back into the 10th floor window and he takes the elevator back up to the bar. The second guy tells him, "You know I saw that with my own eyes, but that must have been a one-time fluke." The first guy says, "No, I'll prove it again," and again he jumps and hurtles toward the street where the 10th floor wind gently carries him around the building and into the window. Once upstairs he urges his fellow drinker to try it. The second man thinks, "Well, why not? It works, I'll try it." So he jumps over the balcony, plunges downward, passes the 11th, 10th, 9th, 8th floors... .and hits the sidewalk with a 'splat!' Back upstairs the bartender turns to the other drinker and says, "You know, Superman, you're a real mean drunk."<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GApVatq-3Cw/WlOdECAD-VI/AAAAAAAAxXk/INDBONw9RzsHz7fKcavIKymlSyONXkNnACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_848.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="378" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GApVatq-3Cw/WlOdECAD-VI/AAAAAAAAxXk/INDBONw9RzsHz7fKcavIKymlSyONXkNnACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_848.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Okay... this is really cool. Today's pheatured guest for the Phile's 12th Anniversary entry is is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He served as the lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis, and now is the lead singer of his new band&nbsp;Noel Gallagher From Noel Gallagher's Nigh Flying Birds whose new album "Who Built the Moon?" is available on Amazon and iTunes. Please welcome to the Phile, the very cool... Noel Gallagher!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NSOp_5RvvrI/WlOd6SFlKKI/AAAAAAAAxXo/k15vT2CsLakgnkvt8lTCmmhadKXEVwKrACLcBGAs/s1600/22045980_1646583245416095_6837992232146887539_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NSOp_5RvvrI/WlOd6SFlKKI/AAAAAAAAxXo/k15vT2CsLakgnkvt8lTCmmhadKXEVwKrACLcBGAs/s320/22045980_1646583245416095_6837992232146887539_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Me: </b>Holy shit, Noel, welcome to the Phile for it's 12th anniversary entry? How're you doing?<br /><br /><b>Noel: </b>No worries. Thank you very much.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I love the new album "Who Built the Moon?," sir. There's a lot of sounds on this album, which was a surprise. Did you plan to have it that way?<br /><br /><b>Noel: </b>Well, David Holmes does soundtracks and his thing is all vibe and sounds and obviously my thing is songs and choruses so it was a good partnership in the sense that he would sit for hours trying to get the guitar to sound like a synthesizer. Why, may you ask, does a guitar sound like a synthesizer? That's because the synthesizer sounds like a guitar as Ringo Starr once said. So, that was his thing. I was as amazed by the sound of the record as it was taking place as anyone else. The reason it worked was he'd be suggesting things and I'd say, "but you can't do that in a pop song," and he'll say, "but you can. So do it." He made me think about writing differently and it was a good trip we went on. I l learnt a lot about myself and about him and I'd hope he'll say the same thing. I really enjoyed it and actually if we hadn't agreed to to do the U2 tour, we had a definite deadline, we'd probably still be making it because we had such a good time doing it.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I like the opening track 'Fort Knox." What is the story behind that song?<br /><br /><b>Noel:</b> On the day that Kanye released, or as the young kids say "dropped," "Fade," I was in the studio and heard it and was completely blown away by it. I'm not a massive fan of Kanye but I've got some of his stuff. We were playing it in the studio and I was in awe of this fucking track. I always liked that track of his, "The Power," and of you listen to "The Power" and "Fort Knox" side by side you'll get what I mean. This is what's great about David... we're listening to "The Power" on the big speakers and he said, "We should do a track like that." I was like wot? It's from that conversation, and then trying to come up with something equally good, obviously it doesn't have the rapping, that track had a lot of vocals on it. It wasn't really working for me. Until he just started to drop bits out of it and left the space and just let the girls do the chant and then me doing the odd bit of singing here and there. It was a pretty special moment in the studio when we nailed it and we were listening to it and we both thought fucking hell, man, this is amazing. David somehow had amount of doubt and he said, "It won't be going on the album though, right?" I was like it's going to be the first fucking track, dude. He added a subtle little thing to the end to which I was like do you know what, man, it's worth to for that. He just put this alarm clock on it. Why would he think of it? It's genius because it's almost like a fucking rattle to wake up. It's a real alarm clock as well. I don't think it's from a sound effects CD, I think it's from a proper alarm clock. I was like wow, that's fucking great. That's the first time I ever worked with a producer who would stay in the studio on his own. I came back the next day and I thought that's fucking great. He stayed up for nine hours listening to the track on his headphones stoned, just to get one tiny thing that sounded amazing. I've got no patience whatsoever. I want it done now. I wanna hear it now and he said, "Let me work on this for three days and it might work and it might not." I was like shit.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Did he have a big impact on the record, Noel?<br /><br /><b>Noel:</b> He's the <i>biggest</i> influence on it. He's a proper producer. The other producer's I have worked with asked me how many songs have I got and I would say I have fucking 206, and they'd say it was easy. Press play and record, pick the best songs and that's it. All the albums work is done at home. David is like, "that's no fun for me. I wanna hear what you got." So, it's starting it doesn't sound like Oasis. I'll start jamming out something and he'd stop and say it sounds too much like Oasis and I'd be like it was good though, right? He'd say, "yeah, I've done that before, let's try something different." We'd go on for another couple of hours and he'd say, "nahhh, that sounds like High Flying Birds now." Equally. That's fantastic. He'd then tell me to do something else. It was only when I used up all the things I learnt on the guitar and just started switch off and just play really he'd more often or not say to me, "do me a favour will you stop playing the fucking guitar?" "What do you mean, what do you want me to do? Play the glockenspiel or something? " "No, no, no, play the guitar but stop playing it." No one has said to me before. I'd be playing it quite melodically and he'd say, "Stop being so emotive playing it. Let yourself go." I was like he's seeing things in me that I didn't know were there. I have so little patience for fucking around that it's easy for me to pick up a guitar and write with chords and a melody and that's it. I wrote a song... wooo. He's like, "No, let's take one eighth of the second of that song and make that into a song." Oh, for fucks sake. They'll be days when I'll come home from the studio and my misses would ask me, "How was the studio today?" I'd say, "I have no idea." She'll say, "What have you been doing then?" "I have been playing the synthesizer for hours." She's like, "You can't play the synthesizer." I was like, "I know." "Then what have you been doing?" "I have no fucking idea." Then I go back in the next day and he'd found like a nano second of what I did fucking around with the synthesizer from the 70s the I couldn't play. He'd say, "See that? That's amazing." So, I'd waste hours to get a minutes worth of thing and then I'd go back to the beginning and start from there. The challenge was to turn that into a song. It's like the "Holy Mountain" thing with the whistle riff... that was it, the pair of us sitting around for hours in the studio looking at the speakers. I was like, alright, I gotta make this into a song. I loved the riff... the tin whistle thing.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I have to ask about the whistling on "Holy Mountain." Is that someone actually whistling or a tin whistle? A kazoo would of been better. Haha.<br /><br /><b>Noel: </b>On my record it's a guy playing a tin whistle. On the sample from the "Chewing Gum Kid" thing, I think it's an organ because we had to play the sample and it sounded fucking great and instantly annoying enough for it to be the first single. It was so annoying it was too good.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I was so surprised there's a couple of instrumentals on the album, sir. Was that your idea or David's?<br /><br /><b>Noel: </b>He didn't give a fuck who I was. He knew who I was when I met him and all that but he didn't give a fuck about what anyone was gonna think of this record. How that came about was we were watching YouTube and it was some French psychedelic fucking film from 1968 and he was like, "What do you think of this?" It was like a film tune. I couldn't tell you what it was. I said it was great and he said we should do something like that. So, we gotta a little drum machine out and I started out with a guitar and I said, "So, what do you want me to do?" And he said, " Just be French." I was like just what does that even mean. And of course I went and became French. Well, my name is Noel so that wasn't a stretch. He didn't give a fuck about what I've done previously. He was there just to make a record. He didn't give a fuck whose name was gonna be on the cover. He was just like we are making a great record and that's the end of it. I was like great. Cool.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>The album could be a soundtrack to a movie, Noel, did you think that as well?<br /><br /><b>Noel:</b> Yes, that's his game. It's what he does. He works in Hollywood and he does these great films. He puts together soundtrack albums and gets all these great session musicians to play songs and that's what be brought to the table. I've brought somebody who writes pop songs.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I have to ask about "The Man Who Built the Moon." Was that a fun song to write? It's very unique.<br /><b><br /></b><b>Noel:</b> Uhhh... I have to be careful what I say or it might infringe somebody's copyright but it's very close to another thing. That song I wrote 8 choruses for that song. Every chorus I wrote I thought was fucking amazing. He was like no, I've done that a thousand times. For fucks sake. The one you hear on the record was the 9th one and he was right. The one that made it on the record was the best one.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, how long do you spend in the studio, Noel? Do you go in and leave when you are tired, ready, fed up? Haha.<br /><br /><b>Noel: </b>I start midday and leave the studio at 6. What I do is I start at 12, finish at 6 and it seems like an intense 6 hours, 8 if I'm working. I've done that since "Morning Glory" and the difference between David and other producers: other producers at 5 past 6 would follow me out of the studio and I'd think that was fucking great. But that's where David would start. I'll leave at 6 and he couldn't wait to get me out the fucking door. He'd be like it's ten to 6, get your cab. Then he'd stick his headphones on with his computer and get into what he was doing. I'd come back the next day and he'd say, "I found this bit of music that you've played." I'd be like wow, fucking hell. That's when I switch off and he'd say this is gonna be the song.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Noel, where do you write most of your songs? At home or in the studio?<br /><br /><b>Noel:</b> Well, "Keep On Reaching" I wrote in the back of a taxi. Not the tune, that came out by jamming, but the lyrics I wrote in a taxi going around Regents Park. "The Man Who Built the Moon" was written in Belfast, "Holy Mountain" I wrote walking on Baker Street. I do a lot of my writing in my head. I come up with a phrase or something and usually when I'm writing and it's not going anywhere one of the good things is to go on a walk, play the little instrumental that I wrote and that's when I go. I was nearly run over a few times coming up with a chorus. There's a great book I was giving to a few years ago called "The Isle of Noises." I was fascinating when I read that book because everybody's got a different way of doing it. No two people are the same although you end up at the same place. That's what's fascinated about music to me anyway, that two people can hear the same song and one of them can go "that's the biggest pile of shit I've ever heard in my life," and someone will go, "wot? That's the greatest song ever written. What are you talking about?"<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Did you go to school or study music?<br /><br /><b>Noel: </b>I don't know anybody that does. I get asked that a lot... do you read music? I don't know anyone who does and I guarantee if you do your fucking songs are shit.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, you have written some very classic songs. So, do you write on electric guitar or acoustic?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Noel: </b>Yeah. How I normally write songs is I sit at home with the telly on with the sound down, I'll have an electric guitar on my lap and to the untrained eye I'll look like I'm watching telly while I'm playing guitar. What I'm actually doing is neither. I'm neither taking any notice what I'm playing or watching the TV. I'll be in a fucking daze just fucking around and then I'l be like oh, wait a minute, what was that? I don't even know what the chords are. Sometimes I go with it for days, and then some days they fall out of the sky and I'm there to catch it.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Your music with Oasis was compared to the Beatles a lot, Noel. Were they an inspiration, which I'm sure is a fucking stupid question, but did you have other inspirations?<br /><br /><b>Noel:</b> Like in "River Man" with "something in the way she moves"? You know we nicked that line from someone else... James Taylor. You do get a lot of squares go, "it's a fucking Beatles line." Really? Go Google it, you penis. I'm not expecting nobody to notice. It's kinda like these are my influences, this is where it comes from. This is not art. it's just us channeling something else. I was always in the school of music where if I write a song and I think it sounds like T-Rex I'll make it sound more like T-Rex. A lot of songwriters make it sound like the opposite. I've never shied away from that. Most people with a good record collection could do what I do. I'm just a fan making music from a fan's perspective. When I get it wrong I do fall flat on my fucking face, and nobody's fallen further than I have done for years. But when I get it right it becomes something new almost. So, for instance "Cigarettes &amp; Alcohol," that riff is clearly T-Rex but I can assure you he got it from somewhere else. It's a standard blues thing. But it became something new for a new generation. There's only some fucking twat in the "NME" that said, "that's T-Rex." When you get something right it becomes something new. When you get it wrong it can be pastige and I've done both. "Live Forever" was inspired by "Shine the Light" by the Stones and that became something new. I don't shy away from it, I chase it if anything. That's my school of music upbringing.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> I have to ask you about your guitars. They're pretty legendary, am I right?<br /><br /><b>Noel:</b> Uhhh... I've got personally two guitars that were given to me by Johnny Marr. He says borrowed, I say given. One of them he wrote "Panic" on it and I wrote "Slide Away" on it, on the same guitar, and for that reason alone he's never gonna get it back. I've got his black Les Paul that he wrote "The Queen Is Dead" on and I wrote "Little By Little" or something on it. I've got one acoustic and one electric, I think they amount up to four guitars what I did "Morning Glory" and "Definitely Maybe" on. They're not the kind of things I turn to. What I find is there's a lot of guitars I have gotten over the years and I usually have three or four in the house and when it's not happening I go back to the lock up and get another three or four. More often or not I play a guitar straightaway, which is why I buy a lot of guitars. If I see a guitar in a shop and something catches my eye and even though I've got six of the fucking things I'll be drawn to it, more often or not I'll get it home, I'll write something on it immediately. I believe that, I don't know why that is, but I think musical instruments, particularly guitars, might've sold. If they're used, second hand, from the 50s or something, clearly someones been fucking. They've got somebody else's soul in it.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Do you play any other instruments? Do you like playing the guitar?<br /><br /><b>Noel: </b>There's track on the album called "If Love is the Law" which I wrote on the mellotron. It's a riff that I had that David jumped on that he said could be a song. I've never written anything on the bass. I'm not really a guitar players player. Its just a tool to write a song. It might as well be a fucking shovel. I love them to look at and they're nice to play and all that but they're just tools. If I was a guitar they have a different take on it. They're the ones wholly really naff guitars, with fucking flamethrowers coming out the end and shit. The Big Red 355 that I play a lot, that is a fucking serious instrument and I've not written so much on that guitar but live I've been playing it for 15 years now and it's a major fucking equipment.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Noel, you have written some very classic, legendary songs. Thinking back to "Champagne Supernova" or "Wonderwall." What song have you written that you thought woe, this is fucking great?<br /><br /><b>Noel: </b>"Dead in the Water," the last song in this album was the last thing I wrote that gave me chills. The story on that particular thing was we were on the last tour and we were in Ireland and I was doing a radio session for RTE and the performance of "The Dying of the Light" is on YouTube. In-between takes, what you hear there, is me fucking around, trying to fix the microphone. I've written "Dead in the Water" about a week before and the sound was so good in my headphones that I asked can I do it again I just started to play that song. I had no idea it was being recorded, I just did it for me. My keyboard player sat opposite kinda looked at my fingers playing the chords and I'm willing him to stop playing because he doesn't know the fucking song, he never heard it before. So, I'm kinda singing it for me and he stops and says, "Is that new?" And we go in and do "The Dying of the Light" and then pack up and go home. Fast forward a couple of years, we are in my office having a meeting and they ask me if we got any content for bonus material. No. One of the guys chasing at the beginning in that thing works in my office and he shouted across the room, "What about that thing you did in Dublin?" I didn't know what he was going on about. He said, "That track something about the water." "'Dead in the Water'? I'm not rerecording that." He said no, they recorded it. Fucking get out of it. So we got hold of the studio in Dublin and low and behold they recorded it and it sounded like that. Fuck off, man, it's really live and a pure magic moment where I'm singing to for me alone. I think it's so special. I'm gonna try and never record that song for that fucking moment of it. It starts slow and then it gradually picks up pace. It's fucking beautiful.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Do a lot of your songs come quickly?<br /><br /><b>Noel:</b> I think like "The Dying of the Light" they arrive fully formed and it takes a couple of hours to write it. That song I chipped away at for a bit. A kind of a rule the more that a song takes to write the more thought out it's gonna be, the less pure it's gonna be. But there's exceptions to the rule. "Rock and Roll Star" took fucking ages to write that song and that is incredible. "Slide Away" arrived like that and equally they're times when you persevere on a song they will have an instant feeling. So there's no hard and fast riles to any of this shit which makes it all fascinating to a songwriter.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Do you do the demos at home, or do you do demos?<br /><br /><b>Noel:</b> I don't have a portastudio, I never was able to master a four track. On average I do it once every five years, I buy the new four track then it always falls down at the manual. I get it out, I set it up, I switch to on, the lights come on and I'm like this is it, man. I'm gonna fucking record now. Then I get the manual out and there's like words with two many D's in, they loom like something out of "Countdown," what does that even mean? But luckily for me I've got pretty good memory for remembering stuff.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I love the song "Don't Look Back In Anger." What is the story about that song, Noel?<br /><br /><b>Noel: </b>One rainy night in Paris, funny enough I was in a strip club, rolled in drunk, got up the next day and the words were written there on this fucking thing and the guitar was on the floor in the hotel room. I played it back and my initial reaction to it was that sounded pretty good if we do it on the next record. Low and behold its become as big as the band. I mean it's kinda like as big as Oasis. Maybe even bigger. That's another fascinating thing. Its like I get asked about that song a lot, particularly around the world... did you know? Even if I had a nano thought of what that song had become I would never finish it. How could what I've written look up to that it's become? The reason it's become what it has is it's pure expression. It was thought out, it was something that was going on in the air that night. Maybe it was one of the strippers, I don't know, but this song is about a woman of a certain age whose life has past her by, but she's looking in a glass chiming fuck it, I don't care, I've got no regrets. Then it's morphed into this anthem of defiance like we will not be fucking cowards. It's a wonderful fucking thing. It's absolute magic.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Why do you think that song resonates with so many people?<br /><br /><b>Noel: </b>The essence of that song it comes from some fucking point of truth. It has to. I'm telling you now, they fucking love that shit in North Korea. They can't even fucking speak English. So it blows my mind. There's footage of a crowd singing it at a Chinese football match. What the fuck was going on that night? It blows me away. I guess when I'm sitting down watching TV I'm thinking anything could happen here.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What do you think the greatest thing is about being a songwriter, Noel?<br /><br /><b>Noel:</b> Not coming up with the chords, the melody or the words, but recognizing there's something happening. To be switched on. Keith Richards talks about the songs being in the air and all that. I liken it to fishing. If you're not at the river you're not catching anything. I go there every fucking day of my life. Before I did this interview I was sitting playing my guitar for an hour, watching "Match of the Day" with the sound down, and thinking nothing happened today. It might get something tomorrow or this week.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>I have to ask, in "Champagne Supernova" what does that line about the cannonball mean?<br /><br /><b>Noel:</b> I fucking don't know what it means, I only wrote it. On my last tour I was playing it in front of bunch of 15-year-olds with their tops off, so maybe that's what it means. That kid there was barely 5 when Oasis broke up and now he's crying his eyes out. It's like that's what it means. If you could put that into a photograph you'll be a fucking genius. It's just is. That's it. Nobody knows.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Do you think you'll do another collaboration with another producer?<br /><br /><b>Noel:</b> I don't collaborate. I didn't collaborate with David Holmes, he cannot play a fucking instrument. He was just a producer. No one gets a writing credit. I write. That's it. I'm not interested in writing with anybody else unless I'm gonna start a new band, I'm offended by singer-songwriters. When you scratch the surface I don't do any fucking songwriting. I'm offended by that. If you scratch the surface of any fucking solo artist they've all got a team go songwriters behind them apart from me, Paul Weller and Johnny Marr. I can't think of anybody else. All the way to fucking Ed Sheerhen and that little fucking cunt, that little fucking fella out of One Direction, they've all got an army of songwriters behind them. That's alright, everyone has to make a living and all that. It feels my arrogance which is good for me.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay then...<br /><br /><b>Noel:</b> I think as a solo artist it comes from you. What is it? It's someone else's melodies, someone else's words. Crack on, make a living. But don't be a fucking big mouth about it. Even with that tune "Dead in the Water," people built careers on that shit. I gave that away. You can have it. I'm that fucking good.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Hahaha. Alright, Noel, sir, this was one of my favorite interviews ever. Thanks so much for taking time out for my blog on it's 12th anniversary. Continued success. Come back again soon.<br /><br /><b>Noel:</b> Cheers, Jason. <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8o4Py6lX_Nc/WlOkrQIUCFI/AAAAAAAAxYI/DBDkQBhrKDgH3ZJSDd4wl_4QZIKTASVAQCLcBGAs/s1600/91D-wcshtdL._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8o4Py6lX_Nc/WlOkrQIUCFI/AAAAAAAAxYI/DBDkQBhrKDgH3ZJSDd4wl_4QZIKTASVAQCLcBGAs/s320/91D-wcshtdL._SL1500_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />That about does it for this entry of the Phile. I can't believe it's the Phile's 12th anniversary wither. Damn. Thanks to my guests Laird Jim and of course Noel Gallagher. The Phile will be back on Thursday with Phile Alum and author Jim Korkis. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g8KOzIcjllQ/WlOnK85xtbI/AAAAAAAAxYc/DczHAx__Tho4U3yAzqldT2VjezWo19yNwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_859.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="392" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g8KOzIcjllQ/WlOnK85xtbI/AAAAAAAAxYc/DczHAx__Tho4U3yAzqldT2VjezWo19yNwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_859.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="post-footer" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"></div><br /><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8488309237348329283" itemprop="description articleBody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.4; orphans: auto; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; width: 586px; word-spacing: 0px;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i><br /><div style="clear: both;"></div></div>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-84883092373483292832018-01-04T18:35:00.000-05:002018-01-04T18:35:08.944-05:00Pheaturing Matthew Nelson From Nelson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SESx8X7xJvY/Wk6SYGcikhI/AAAAAAAAxLM/TgbR7MFwftI3bPVd6jCrbOjFQTJu9xDsgCLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SESx8X7xJvY/Wk6SYGcikhI/AAAAAAAAxLM/TgbR7MFwftI3bPVd6jCrbOjFQTJu9xDsgCLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hey</b>, welcome to the Phile, kids, happy two thousand and...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BvZyFWsbVz0/Wk6TF1SGs-I/AAAAAAAAxLQ/XYCR6xwXpZIf3nLHSKNtQl6rd-vpzit6ACLcBGAs/s1600/a-team_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="739" data-original-width="1100" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BvZyFWsbVz0/Wk6TF1SGs-I/AAAAAAAAxLQ/XYCR6xwXpZIf3nLHSKNtQl6rd-vpzit6ACLcBGAs/s320/a-team_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Hahahahaha. That's so stupid. That's as stupid as...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_fmU_8QNNJI/Wk6Tx3BTfrI/AAAAAAAAxLU/IihglLJXBb0_iKKEAcMAThCw74lJPfl6ACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_830.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="448" height="276" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_fmU_8QNNJI/Wk6Tx3BTfrI/AAAAAAAAxLU/IihglLJXBb0_iKKEAcMAThCw74lJPfl6ACLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_830.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Yep. it's a new year. Remember, the beginning of a new year brings with it a feeling of hope and inspiration. It leaves the majority of people thinking, "Yes! I can achieve my dreams!"<br /><b>So</b>, here's the first story I'm gonna talk about in 2018... a topless woman pummeled a guy who groped her at music festival. Meet 2018's new hero. Madeline Anello-Kitzmiller, 20, was attending the Rhythm &amp; Vines music festival in New Zealand on New Year's Eve when a guy snuck up behind her and groped her breasts, the "Daily Mail" reports. So she did what many women have dreamed of doing in this scenario: she fought back. Anello-Kitzmiller, who is American and happened to be wearing glitter in place of a shirt (those two facts may or may not be related), and her friend, followed the guy and proceeded to punch/smack him across the head multiple times. What a start to 2018! The whole fiasco was captured on film by someone named Giann Reece, who shared the video to Facebook (where it was then taken down) and Instagram. Here's a screenshot, kids...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KKgVNX09lnI/Wk6V0YC9xjI/AAAAAAAAxLY/jDVyV5dOa-4zhkVn_VWF-m4YcwLdjEhyQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-04%2Bat%2B3.57.23%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="587" height="393" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KKgVNX09lnI/Wk6V0YC9xjI/AAAAAAAAxLY/jDVyV5dOa-4zhkVn_VWF-m4YcwLdjEhyQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-04%2Bat%2B3.57.23%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />That's some #womenempowerment for damn sure. Reece originally posted the video on Facebook, before it was taken down, writing in the caption, "Idk who you are glitter booby girl, but you and your sassy friend were the highlight of my RNV experience. Hope you and your party breasts made it home safe. #lookbutdonttouch." Anello-Kitzmiller not only made it home safe, but she has become somewhat of an Internet hero. Many commenters are praising her and arguing that the guy got at least what he deserved. She has also received some criticism from the ever-judging Internet, both for using physical violence and for showing her breasts. But Annello-Kitzmiller is having none of it. She told the "Daily Mail," "a human's body is their own, and nobody has a right to touch you without your consent, regardless of what they're wearing or the lack thereof." SPEAK IT. She says she didn't let the assault keep her from being topless and enjoying the festival, where she remained until 6am on New Years Day. Get it, girl. And she told the "Daily Mail" she has no regrets about how she handled the situation. "I stand by my actions and hope that I've inspired women to feel comfortable in their bodies, no matter how they look, and to stick up for themselves when anybody says otherwise or tries to deny you the right to protect your own body. He grabbed my breast. I hit him. There was a lot of built up anger coming from harassment throughout the day. This happens everywhere, not just New Zealand." Maybe 2018 won't be so bad after all. At least one person seems to be enjoying it so far.<br /><b>Today</b>, the Justice Department announced that they would rescind "a trio of memos from the Obama administration" that instructed federal prosecutors in states where marijuana had been legalized not to, in legal terms, harsh everyone's vibe. Since marijuana remains illegal under federal law, these Obama-era memos helped put states that legalized medical and recreational pot at ease. Federal prosecutors wouldn't interfere as long as the policies "didn't threaten other federal priorities, such as preventing the distribution of the drug to minors and cartels," according to CNN. It's unclear just what the reversal by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, head of the Justice Department, means for states ... like Colorado... that have booming legal marijuana industries. But one thing's for sure: the legal status of marijuana just got much more confusing again. And the reaction has been intense. Especially since legal pot isn't just beloved by stoners. The Twitter account for the Colorado Senate Democrats had a viral reaction that went beyond this impeccable one-liner. "We'll give Jeff Sessions our legal pot when he pries it from our warm, extremely interesting to look at hands." The Colorado Senate Dems (or whatever social media master runs their account) went on to explain the benefits that legal marijuana has had for their state, including millions of tax dollars put towards schools and addiction treatment programs. Another politician, this one from Oregon, also weighed in on the decision on Twitter, asking Jeff Sessions if he'd even consulted with Donald Trump. Trump apparently promised not to "interfere with state marijuana laws" during the campaign.<br /><b>Doug</b> Jones was finally sworn in on yesterday by Mike Pence, making him Alabama's newest senator. And during the ceremony, Jones' openly gay son, Carson Jones, threw the shadiest shade that ever shaded onto the highly anti-gay Pence. The side-eye really is a work of art.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mrqmjsiozrE/Wk6X1PbBmpI/AAAAAAAAxLc/zPPVvEz0WIozk301ldH-B-qutrp9AD7GQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-04%2Bat%2B4.08.17%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="497" height="215" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mrqmjsiozrE/Wk6X1PbBmpI/AAAAAAAAxLc/zPPVvEz0WIozk301ldH-B-qutrp9AD7GQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-04%2Bat%2B4.08.17%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Pence has said that gay couples are indicative of "societal collapse," and he also opposed a law protecting LGBTQ+ people from being discriminated against in the workplace. Last month, Carson Jones confirmed his sexual orientation in an interview with "The Advocate" after the election in which his father, a Democrat, beat Republican alleged child molester Roy Moore. Carson Jones told "The Advocate" he was "thrilled" with his dad's win, adding, “We have been overwhelmed by the support of so many people that made this happen. Alabama made a really big statement that unity wins out. I couldn’t be prouder of him or my home state!” Carson Jones Instagrammed the picture on his own page, with the hashtags "#swearingin," "#nocaptionneeded," and "#wemadeit," among a few others. Way to go, Alabama!<br /><b>The</b> year 2018 is already off to a wild start in Trump world. Yesterday morning, "The Guardian" reported that Steve Bannon has turned on the president. Bannon allegedly called Donald Trump Jr. and Russians meeting in Trump Tower "treasonous," and predicted that special counsel Robert Mueller will hone in on money laundering and totally nail Jared Kushner. All this juicy info comes from the upcoming book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" by journalist Michael Wolff. "New York" magazine has an excerpt of the exposé, which covers the Trump camp from the shock of election night to the continuing shock of occupying the West Wing. Here are the wildest revelations so far... Trump's goal in running for president wasn't to become president, nobody was happy on election night, Trump finds the constitution boring, Trump allegedly didn't know who John Boehner was, Ann Coulter warned him not to hire his kids, Steve Bannon says Trump's in with the Russians, Trump and Melania fought at the inauguration, Bannon designed the rollout of the Muslim Ban to be a nightmare, Jared Kushner offered to officiate Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski's wedding, Ivanka thinks she's going to be the first female president, Ivanka has enough awareness to make fun of her dad's hair, surprise! Donald and Melania have separate bedrooms, more surprises! He's a nightmare for the White House staff, Steve Bannon, Reince Preibus, and Jared Kushner were all simultaneously in charge, reflecting Trump's goals, the president has basic issues processing information. That's enough for now.<br /><b>New </b>year, same ol' Eric Trump. On Tuesday, President Trump's second-eldest son tweeted a bizarre political conspiracy about Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and... Ellen DeGeneres? Yep. I couldn't make this stuff up. In the tweet, Eric Trump included a screenshot of who Twitter suggests him to follow. Included is former president Barack Obama, former candidate Hillary Clinton, and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. Alongside the screen grab, he tweeted...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YNsEIms2Qcw/Wk6bfhVjBKI/AAAAAAAAxLg/oSHv0tzPvu4x6xefEVUrbAAwSoZaz0pMACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-04%2Bat%2B4.23.35%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="497" height="131" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YNsEIms2Qcw/Wk6bfhVjBKI/AAAAAAAAxLg/oSHv0tzPvu4x6xefEVUrbAAwSoZaz0pMACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-04%2Bat%2B4.23.35%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />"Deep state" is a fringe conspiracy theory turned mainstream after being pushed repeatedly by Donald Trump. According to the "Oxford English Dictionary," "Deep State" refers to "a body of people, typically influential members of government agencies or the military, believed to be involved in the secret manipulation or control of government policy." So basically, the conspiracy says that certain government officials are pulling strings behind the curtains of our "democracy," but wouldn't that mean that President Trump wouldn't even have been elected in the first place? Plus, if these three were the ones secretly running the country and undermining Trump's administration... they are doing a pretty terrible job. Anyway... To put it lightly, Twitter found Eric Trump's paranoid tweet about the voice of Dory from <i>Finding Nemo</i> very, very funny. Meanwhile, President Trump is also pushing the Deep State conspiracy on Twitter, when he is not too busy trying to get us into a nuclear war, that is. DeGeneres addressed Trump's accusation on her show, saying that she didn't even know what the "deep state" is. DeGeneres tweeted a video of the part of her daytime show where she discussed the situation, writing, "I woke up to discover I was part of a government conspiracy called #DeepState. Here's what I have to say about it." DeGeneres started out by saying, "I don't pay attention to politics, but unfortunately politics pays attention to me." She then claimed not to know which of Donald Trump's sons Eric was, asking, "Was he the one who killed the elephant or the cheetah?," referring to the siblings' hunting trophy pictures. She went on to say that the idea of her being part of a government conspiracy "is just the craziest thing I’ve seen all week, because I saw that movie with the lady having sex with the fish and still this beats that." She called the accusation "ridiculous," explaining that while she's "honored" that Eric Trump thinks she's "powerful enough to be part of a government conspiracy," she really doesn't have the time for it. DeGeneres joked, “I’ve got my gay agenda meetings on Mondays. I’ve got on Wednesday, Beyoncé and I host an illuminati brunch, and then Portia and I on the weekends are desperately trying to have a baby." So why does Twitter want Eric Trump to follow her? According to DeGeneres, "It could be a conspiracy, or it could be because your sister, Ivanka, follows me on Twitter, and your sister, Tiffany, follows me on Twitter." DeGeneres suggested that Eric Trump follow her on Twitter, too, because she posts "a lot of cute videos." And who doesn't need a little more cute in their life, right? Although in the case of Trump, there's the worry that he might try to hunt and kill whatever cute thing DeGeneres posts. <br /><b>Alright</b>, so, it's pretty damn cold here in Florida, but you people up north are having a rougher time. Winter Storm Grayson, also known as the Bomb Cyclone for its unique meterological phenomena, has hit the east coast. Check out how dope it looks from space!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YGzjhbBNmNA/Wk6cwQXRqmI/AAAAAAAAxLk/PHOQI-SEHxQgchSxZOfbs0MRbfCDhP5gACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-04%2Bat%2B4.29.13%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="291" data-original-width="496" height="233" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YGzjhbBNmNA/Wk6cwQXRqmI/AAAAAAAAxLk/PHOQI-SEHxQgchSxZOfbs0MRbfCDhP5gACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-04%2Bat%2B4.29.13%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Snow is fun when you're not in the midst of it. Curl up with a cup of tea next to a fireplace and just read the Phile. The weather guys up north are pretty much telling you what to expect...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6YqI1Qj6aFI/Wk6dIa0vsUI/AAAAAAAAxLo/a6yPT15f2n8omOb-RcNdtGBIZHiybLR8ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1201" data-original-width="1199" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6YqI1Qj6aFI/Wk6dIa0vsUI/AAAAAAAAxLo/a6yPT15f2n8omOb-RcNdtGBIZHiybLR8ACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_2896.JPG" width="319" /></a></div><br />Ha. It did snow here in Florida and I have proof...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-otfZ2C_rmMo/Wk6dRo7P2eI/AAAAAAAAxLs/_c3rfLck8-QNuVqJbjk76qC1bDgVzTqWgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2897.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="367" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-otfZ2C_rmMo/Wk6dRo7P2eI/AAAAAAAAxLs/_c3rfLck8-QNuVqJbjk76qC1bDgVzTqWgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2897.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br />The Magic Kingdom at Disney is full of snow. Hahaha. Girl Scout cookie season officially started today and I think their new logo slogan says it all...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FSF6k0gRMvw/Wk6dxtQ-lTI/AAAAAAAAxLw/cvLPm2ICoNgFcuoLJZa4LxUBzmpAvwi5ACLcBGAs/s1600/Gc_14a639_6285803.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="720" height="270" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FSF6k0gRMvw/Wk6dxtQ-lTI/AAAAAAAAxLw/cvLPm2ICoNgFcuoLJZa4LxUBzmpAvwi5ACLcBGAs/s400/Gc_14a639_6285803.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hey, remember Macklemore? This is him now... <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fg30RejZvY8/Wk6etbzAQyI/AAAAAAAAxL0/Kp8oBlZsm30hEbiP_J4fivI8cXLU3fpLACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_831.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="333" height="283" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fg30RejZvY8/Wk6etbzAQyI/AAAAAAAAxL0/Kp8oBlZsm30hEbiP_J4fivI8cXLU3fpLACLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_831.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Fell old yet? You know, if I had a TARDIS I would go back in time and try to kill Hitler, just like Nick Fury tried to do in a "Fantastic Four" comic once. But, knowing my luck I'll get to his bunker and he'd already committed suicide.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qehFS5k4KXs/Wk6fPJJzQ-I/AAAAAAAAxL4/u2Rdjn3Nn0cwjvrY1DJ6IvybhUs-UAVrACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_81d.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="678" height="255" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qehFS5k4KXs/Wk6fPJJzQ-I/AAAAAAAAxL4/u2Rdjn3Nn0cwjvrY1DJ6IvybhUs-UAVrACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_81d.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />What? You thought I was gonna show you a pic of his dead body? Wrong! So, the other day I was supposed to Google "Ariana Grande," don't ask me why, just play along, and instead I Googled "Ariana Gandhi" and this is what I discovered...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_GHUm1DN4b8/Wk6g1oRDwTI/AAAAAAAAxMA/bNkVvKWxKuMZ_PuEEMvxemblR-yiZ1u8QCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_833.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="873" height="311" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_GHUm1DN4b8/Wk6g1oRDwTI/AAAAAAAAxMA/bNkVvKWxKuMZ_PuEEMvxemblR-yiZ1u8QCLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_833.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>So, 2018 is already turning out to be an odd year...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JBO1OSo4JSg/Wk6hW6GWSSI/AAAAAAAAxME/NQcq3mnXLYs-YgsLrdYY6_4L7KY8ItigwCLcBGAs/s1600/Alternate%252Buniverse%252Bgreenmy%252Bphotoshop%252Bskills%252Bare%252Boff%252Bthe%252Bchart%252Bwith_2f63f4_6435150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="1200" height="211" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JBO1OSo4JSg/Wk6hW6GWSSI/AAAAAAAAxME/NQcq3mnXLYs-YgsLrdYY6_4L7KY8ItigwCLcBGAs/s400/Alternate%252Buniverse%252Bgreenmy%252Bphotoshop%252Bskills%252Bare%252Boff%252Bthe%252Bchart%252Bwith_2f63f4_6435150.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Yes, we do. Ha! So, do you like the Porg's from the new Star Wars movie? I love them but I think I have seen them before years ago in something else. Then it hit me...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x5XklGhtG_E/Wk6iAdwjyOI/AAAAAAAAxMI/lnYWkMyqbtk-BYFopVNZRfKl8s2h8ZPhwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_835.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="716" height="295" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x5XklGhtG_E/Wk6iAdwjyOI/AAAAAAAAxMI/lnYWkMyqbtk-BYFopVNZRfKl8s2h8ZPhwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_835.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />It's Thursday! You know what the means...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-31VhAvkuwVA/Wk6ijFWy_iI/AAAAAAAAxMM/dW0aDYH97dAsM3nIwdQy2mYg6pdNXTu-QCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_15.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="531" height="276" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-31VhAvkuwVA/Wk6ijFWy_iI/AAAAAAAAxMM/dW0aDYH97dAsM3nIwdQy2mYg6pdNXTu-QCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_15.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vCID1IEKHiM/Wk6jQwRv7dI/AAAAAAAAxMQ/2IaRv88o_bQi5I-JC60etNDi6Z1xX2wgwCLcBGAs/s1600/a97178_tumor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="450" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vCID1IEKHiM/Wk6jQwRv7dI/AAAAAAAAxMQ/2IaRv88o_bQi5I-JC60etNDi6Z1xX2wgwCLcBGAs/s400/a97178_tumor.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />In August 2010, doctors removed a tumor weighing nearly four stone... 24 kilos, or 56 pounds... from a woman in Argentina. It had been growing inside her body for 18 months. The huge growth was taken out of the 54-year-old's womb during a four-hour operation at a hospital near the capital, Buenos Aires. The unnamed patient was discharged weighing just over 16 and a half stone... five stone 7lbs less than when she was admitted. Gazooks.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WzYf-yDT7J4/Wk6kTdznN6I/AAAAAAAAxMU/bxwnE7H0aaw-c97eMt2X03uyQ238DI1CgCLcBGAs/s1600/6crif1482531125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WzYf-yDT7J4/Wk6kTdznN6I/AAAAAAAAxMU/bxwnE7H0aaw-c97eMt2X03uyQ238DI1CgCLcBGAs/s400/6crif1482531125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_RYBVkA-jUA/Wk6kqjeBM0I/AAAAAAAAxMY/7v9H0FsFeY0qwJzLAhTO0TgWIv1kQwSaACLcBGAs/s1600/Cursed_19c7ab_6337521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="582" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_RYBVkA-jUA/Wk6kqjeBM0I/AAAAAAAAxMY/7v9H0FsFeY0qwJzLAhTO0TgWIv1kQwSaACLcBGAs/s400/Cursed_19c7ab_6337521.jpg" width="395" /></a></div><br />If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. It's a pretty lame one to start the new year I have to admit. Alright, it's time to talk football with my good friend Jeff.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3QkztwpG1FE/Wk6lPnpa0OI/AAAAAAAAxMc/R8X2uUm8yI0sL1VyRnh0qOmj6YncHO9-QCLcBGAs/s1600/21175267_10155181387409355_2128367425_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="574" height="216" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3QkztwpG1FE/Wk6lPnpa0OI/AAAAAAAAxMc/R8X2uUm8yI0sL1VyRnh0qOmj6YncHO9-QCLcBGAs/s400/21175267_10155181387409355_2128367425_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><b>Me:</b> Jeff! Happy New Year! One year closer to Tom Brady retiring. How was your new years?<br /><br /><b>Jeff: </b>Happy New Year to you as well. And as always glad to be back here on the Phile. Brady still wants to play for a few more years so we will see just how close we are! My New Year's was low key, what about yours?<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> It was okay I guess. So, I was trying to work out how many years we knew each other... I'm thinking 17. Am I right? Do you have a pic of us back then?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> We have known each other for over 17 years actually. I have a crap load of pictures from back in the day. First picture I have of you is from 2002, it was taken at a wedding. You're not too pleased in the picture. The first picture I have of us together is from 2006 at Mickey's Retreat.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hbAM6o1f-fM/Wk6oW1knaAI/AAAAAAAAxMk/GyYmfJL4pns8799R35inc8GPWk3o95BAACLcBGAs/s1600/Mickey%2527s%2BRetreat%2BJason%2Band%2BJeff.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1600" height="265" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hbAM6o1f-fM/Wk6oW1knaAI/AAAAAAAAxMk/GyYmfJL4pns8799R35inc8GPWk3o95BAACLcBGAs/s400/Mickey%2527s%2BRetreat%2BJason%2Band%2BJeff.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me: </b>That was a great day. Okay, let's talk football... so, did you see the Bills fans and players at Dolphins' stadium go nuts when the Bengals won? Why were those people so happy?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> The Bills were so excited because they made the playoffs for the first time this whole century! The last time Buffalo made the playoffs was in 1999, so I think they have a reason to be excitable.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, that explains this, right?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oxnnA8LBdTo/Wk6o1vSsLpI/AAAAAAAAxMo/GiBujovfpaYrJdrDnOhNCQ0mC1S2L80pQCLcBGAs/s1600/4C4DA41F-B031-4634-9038-6D9987F1E515.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1472" data-original-width="1125" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oxnnA8LBdTo/Wk6o1vSsLpI/AAAAAAAAxMo/GiBujovfpaYrJdrDnOhNCQ0mC1S2L80pQCLcBGAs/s400/4C4DA41F-B031-4634-9038-6D9987F1E515.jpeg" width="305" /></a></div><br /><b>Me: </b>I thought that was funny. Can you believe the Bills made it to the Playoffs? Last time that happened Windows 95 came out, <i>Toy Story</i> was released, a Bill was president and Tyrod was 6-years-old. Hey, did you see this coming? The Raiders fired head coach Jack Del Rio which could open the door for Jon Gruden. Do you think that'll happen?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> Del Rio was one of four coaches let go during the last day of the regular season. There are several reports that Gruden will return, but we will see. His name pops up every year. I know he enjoys being in the booth, but everyone has a price!<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay, what NFL news do you have, Jeff?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> Like I said, four coaches let go. The others are in Detroit, Chicago and the Colts also fired their head coaches. Cincinnati's head coach had said he was done at the end of the season as well, so that's five positions open. Want to be a head coach? In other news, the Cleveland Browns have been eliminated from the 2018-2019 playoffs as well. Their chances of 2019-2020 aren't looking that good either!<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Yeah, I love this poster the Browns released...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ohp3fXW-OO4/Wk6qdJNIixI/AAAAAAAAxMs/ZUIb6b2C4AQw6qY5NYkugxDpjGbWXNCzACLcBGAs/s1600/26114099_1765821900131157_3208049778327831545_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ohp3fXW-OO4/Wk6qdJNIixI/AAAAAAAAxMs/ZUIb6b2C4AQw6qY5NYkugxDpjGbWXNCzACLcBGAs/s320/26114099_1765821900131157_3208049778327831545_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Jeff:</b> When your team goes 1-31 in the last two seasons, there is very little to celebrate. But hey, good for them. It takes a special amount of talent to be that bad.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Hahahaha. So, Disney has taken over one last team, Jeff...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XF7aXrO22yA/Wk6rtHuXddI/AAAAAAAAxMw/hri8jV4aosoGKu8Yih2atjBFX7kGMqJnACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_712.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="728" height="228" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XF7aXrO22yA/Wk6rtHuXddI/AAAAAAAAxMw/hri8jV4aosoGKu8Yih2atjBFX7kGMqJnACLcBGAs/s320/fullsizeoutput_712.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Me: </b>What do you think?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> That's not a bad logo. Sure Disney could find something more Viking-esque then him, but yeah!&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, how did we do last week?<br /><br /><b>Jeff: </b>How did we do? Well, I had yet another perfect week with a 2-0 week and a Steeler win. You went 1-1 with a Giant win. Let me repeat that since it's not something you hear often, the Giants won! But my lead grows!<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Ugh. Alright, let's pick the Wildcard week games. I say Chiefs by 6 and Bills by 7. What do you say?<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> Since you picked both AFC teams, I will take on the NFC. Rams by 7 and Saints by 3.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, Jeff, I will see you back here next Thursday. Have a good week.<br /><br /><b>Jeff:</b> See you next week!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aL2m8PG-Tec/Wk6sSSP8kaI/AAAAAAAAxM0/YlLSd3t0XTczedBt4SpAQYfAy5th30yxQCLcBGAs/s1600/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="400" height="187" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aL2m8PG-Tec/Wk6sSSP8kaI/AAAAAAAAxM0/YlLSd3t0XTczedBt4SpAQYfAy5th30yxQCLcBGAs/s400/11203108_1073757832645686_5805384951008974763_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UanZLKdP9UU/Wk6tPCOdXxI/AAAAAAAAxM4/LkD9rnj2gEo0BgtuTuGuZuRoCoy8dYq9gCLcBGAs/s1600/46-bT0N88.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UanZLKdP9UU/Wk6tPCOdXxI/AAAAAAAAxM4/LkD9rnj2gEo0BgtuTuGuZuRoCoy8dYq9gCLcBGAs/s400/46-bT0N88.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Once again I don't get it. Okay, I don't know how your 2017 was but I bet it wasn't as bad as some people's, Once again it's...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n0CNrIrlcJ0/Wk6t6G5SasI/AAAAAAAAxM8/ys-apM4k1yIGMfGMjJvL0ksIWh12ZdT7ACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_7f7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="818" height="142" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n0CNrIrlcJ0/Wk6t6G5SasI/AAAAAAAAxM8/ys-apM4k1yIGMfGMjJvL0ksIWh12ZdT7ACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_7f7.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />After decades of running an efficient, weaponized assault machine, mega-producer Harvey Weinstein was finally exposed for exposing himself. A bombshell duo of exposés in "The New York Times" and "The New Yorker" (the latter magazine even revealing that Weinstein hired former Mossad agents to try and discredit his accusers) broke the dam and miraculously welcomed a new world in which women were believed and taken seriously. Weinstein lost his company, his marriage, and saw his last name become synonymous with sexual misconduct... thoughts and prayers go to all the innocent men and women out there who just happen to have the same generic Jewish last name. The reign of Weinstein is over... and the kingdoms of men just like him are tumbling down.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X8lugVd3vX8/Wk6uT1-RdeI/AAAAAAAAxNA/9-ldbysOoWo8uXxSbpwjGtMwuP_fNrrRgCLcBGAs/s1600/again.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X8lugVd3vX8/Wk6uT1-RdeI/AAAAAAAAxNA/9-ldbysOoWo8uXxSbpwjGtMwuP_fNrrRgCLcBGAs/s400/again.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Rose Marie&nbsp;</b><br />August 15th, 1923 — December 28th, 2017<br />She was at opening night of the Flamingo Hotel in Vegas. SIXTEEN YEARS after she started in radio. This chick had some miles on her.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SFAWl9XylFQ/Wk6unzsXdzI/AAAAAAAAxNE/frXRtdEIOS4k21uxGUkEa2Af2MHeiIp0ACLcBGAs/s1600/yoursign-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="319" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SFAWl9XylFQ/Wk6unzsXdzI/AAAAAAAAxNE/frXRtdEIOS4k21uxGUkEa2Af2MHeiIp0ACLcBGAs/s400/yoursign-41.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br />The 72nd book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-adU0MgSs8qk/Wk6u2QUY3II/AAAAAAAAxNI/QeKdWOtipGETKsj60wB1-QXpX-RIpt7eQCLcBGAs/s1600/51-j1AxXSIL._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="324" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-adU0MgSs8qk/Wk6u2QUY3II/AAAAAAAAxNI/QeKdWOtipGETKsj60wB1-QXpX-RIpt7eQCLcBGAs/s400/51-j1AxXSIL._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><br />Phile Alum and author Jim Korkis will be on the Phile a week from today... next Thursday.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cGDEK05CNBw/Wk6vS6heKeI/AAAAAAAAxNM/sE2-vIAZVrss9JXIeWupfEwvTRzC8z1MQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cGDEK05CNBw/Wk6vS6heKeI/AAAAAAAAxNM/sE2-vIAZVrss9JXIeWupfEwvTRzC8z1MQCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_6c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Phact 1.</b> After Beethoven went deaf, he found he could affix a metal rod to his piano and bite down on it while he played, enabling him to hear perfectly through vibrations in his jawbone. The process is called bone conduction.<br /><br /><b>Phact 2.</b> The second officer of the Titanic, who survived by swimming from the sinking ship to a capsized raft, later in life sailed his civilian craft to Dunkirk and helped evacuate over 130 men.<br /><br /><b>Phact 3.</b> Michael Jackson wanted to be Spider-Man so bad that he attempted to buy Marvel.<br /><br /><b>Phact 4. </b>In 2005, Facebook hired graffiti artist David Choe to paint murals in their new office space. Choe accepted Facebook shares instead of a cash payment, and when Facebook went public in 2012, his shares were valued at $200 million.<br /><br /><b>Phact 5. </b>Dexter Holland from The Offspring graduated high school as valedictorian, has a PhD in Molecular Biology from USC, has his pilot license and flew solo around the world in 10 days, runs marathons, and has his own hot sauce company.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3zinZg8A1sI/Wk6wTdJN3xI/AAAAAAAAxNQ/r7Gpb0mwK2AlrHuhHW0HnTU5nr87cDkvACLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_7b.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="400" height="375" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3zinZg8A1sI/Wk6wTdJN3xI/AAAAAAAAxNQ/r7Gpb0mwK2AlrHuhHW0HnTU5nr87cDkvACLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_7b.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Today's pheatured guest is an American singer-songwriter, musician and international multi-platinum recording artist. Along with his twin brother Gunnar, he has been a member of Nelson since 1990. Their single, "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection" was a #1 hit in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in September 1990. Their album "After the Rain" was just released on vinyl and remastered for iTunes. Please welcome to the Phile from Nelson... Matthew Nelson.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kgpib0QwN0Q/Wk6ya0X0DtI/AAAAAAAAxNU/cTQrb6ZWNwwoOatXjeg13PyIg2Oq_7iXgCLcBGAs/s1600/17523278_737812136397807_681685622127553627_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="960" height="297" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kgpib0QwN0Q/Wk6ya0X0DtI/AAAAAAAAxNU/cTQrb6ZWNwwoOatXjeg13PyIg2Oq_7iXgCLcBGAs/s400/17523278_737812136397807_681685622127553627_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Me:</b> Hey, Matthew, welcome to the Phile. How are you?<br /><br /><b>Matthew:</b> I have no idea. Great to be here, Jason, your dad was really cool.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Thank you. So, I was supposed to interview you and your brother Gunnar... what happened?&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Matthew:</b> I don't know, guess he didn't want to speak to you. Haha.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, readers of the Phile are probably wondering if you have anything new out... but you just released your album "After the Rain" on vinyl and on iTunes... remastered. How did that come about? Why now?<br /><br /><b>Matthew:</b> Okay, our album "After the Rain," for better or for worse it's considered a rock classic now, I shudder to say that, so when we got the call that someone was thinking of reissuing our album on 138 audio gram vinyl I was really excited, but the problem was we couldn't find the master tapes. They were mislabeled and mismarked so we lost them for years. We finally doubled down the label and actually found the masters which were mislabeled in the wrong size box actually. What we were trying to find was the unEQed two track masters of the album and we couldn't find it. When we found it I was overjoyed, and as far as my brother Gunnar and myself my world is mastering and product management and I got the chance to fly out to Los Angeles from Nashville and remaster the album. So, it turned out to be a dream come true especially there was a lot missing. Even though it sold millions of copies there was a lot missing from what I was hearing in the studio. A lot of it was low-end... I think when the original engineer mastered it he probably was using a subwoofer in the studio. Of course it's louder because it's thirty years later, but we absolutely made sure we didn't "slam" it like a lot of people are doing now. With us we wanted to keep the music musicality and not change the record but enhance the record and that's exactly what we did.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, why release this reissue on vinyl instead of CD? I know fewer and fewer buy CDs anymore, but I am one of those people that still do. I have about thirty in my car right now as we speak. Do you think music is better on vinyl?<br /><br /><b>Matthew:</b> We kinda did a little of both. You see, when you EQ for vinyl you have to hit it differently because it's laid a certain way so it's slightly different as an overall master than say something you would optimize for streaming digitally or even for coding on a CD. We actually did both, so for the vinyl it's specifically to sound best on vinyl. Our focus has been this vinyl as we were actually the last band in '90-'91 on Geffen to release on vinyl. We actually had it in our hands back in those days, but again the thickness of the vinyl was a lot thinner and didn't sound as good because the master was different. But being able to hold that album, look at the artwork, and read the credits and the liner notes, of course we have upgraded the liner notes and song by song list to make it kind of special.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Me: </b>How do you think your fans are now compared to when this album came out? I am sure they are excited about this new rerelease.<br /><br /><b>Matthew:</b> Well, it's multifold, of course our fans now have kids that are rediscovering their parents record collection. I kinda saw that happen years ago when I was out with Styx and Frampton opening for them, it's kinda the same thing. For everything that's good about music now being accessible it's also a bad thing. Kids in particular growing up with things being so here today hot <i>tomale</i>. You don't have to learn how to play an instrument when you can cut and paste it and loop it. I think what they are discovering through their parents is the fact there was a time when people actually learnt a craft, like really a craft and spent years developing it. When we wrote a song it was an actual song, and have not something yelled at you. I think you have that but you also have parents that were there the first time around that not only want to relive it, but are a little more sophisticated this time. They want a little bit nostalgia, but they would prefer at least we haven't giving up and are always trying to do something a little bit better. The fact that Gunnar and I started our own label pretty soon after the second album with Geffen didn't work out as quite as well in that climate, which was of course the middle of grunge. We never stopped making music, we had 14 albums out and all that stuff, but people remember "After the Rain" as one of those albums that they grew up with which was an album and band that spoke to millions of the disenfranchised. We all weren't the cool kids, we were speaking for most of us. I think when you put on the album we designed it to be an album. It was a song, leading into the next song, which lead you into the next song. It put you on a trip and of course side 1 was side 1, and when you flipped it over it had a familiar vibe. We did that on purpose and I think there was more care that was put into it. And now ironically it's gone back to where our dad was, in the 50s, where it was one song at a time, and people are making their own things. But I think this a bit of a nostalgic yearning for a musical experience.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Do you think you were giving the credit you deserved musically because you were both pretty boys with long blond hair and sang songs that weren't like long haired metal bands at the time, or ever, Matthew? I vaguely remember myself and my friends making fun of you two. Haha.<br /><br /><b>Matthew:</b> Well, that's a tough question to answer without sounding like sour grapes or whatever. The truth is it's kinda a family tradition. It came from our dad and beyond, Ozzie as well, who was considered pretty boy for his era even though he was super solid and had number one records and toured with his band for 14 years. Here's the thing, Jason, I would say it like this... the media is a blessing or a curse, of course you use it to sell records. For us it was MTV, for our dad it was the "Ozzie and Harriet" show. Now, Paul McCartney says in the show we do for our dad they didn't get the "Ozzie and Harriet" show over in England. Our dad was the most famous one in the day, but in England he didn't have any of that stigma as he had in the states... similar vibe. He was too pretty or whatever. Gunnar and I had the same thing of course, we were the darlings of MTV, but of you listened to the music back then it was really obvious those people grew up with that. Yes, we were pretty guys, we did it on purpose. We went to England and studied English and all that kinda stuff, and we were wind. Honestly, in Europe which we always anticipated was gonna be a global effort, not just the states, unfortunately it didn't get there because Geffen sold his record company half way through our first single. It was more of a European thing that image was as important or more important as music. Truly we were songwriters first, we just wrapped it up in a package because we figured it was part of the job. We were too pop for the rockers, and the Metallica crowd, and of course we were too heavy for the poppers. We found ourselves the one guitar band on pop radio, and then rock radio abandoned us. We were always men without a country, and I was okay with that to a certain degree because what we were trying to do honestly was kinda a counter statement to everything that was happening at the time... ironically all the hair band crap. Even though we had long hair we didn't have make-up, we didn't have Aqua Net, but our stuff was more DNA which was the California sound. It was everything from our dad, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Hollies, stuff that was essentially non blues related. Everything that was happening with the hair band stuff, look, I hate to say it, I love AC/DC but it's easy to sound tough when you're playing 1-4-5 with a Marshall. We didn't do that... "Love and Affection" had a twangy Rickenbacker 12-string intro. I kind of look at it, and I never tell people this, Gunnar and I came out after the post-punk, power pop, new wavy thing in L.A. that was happening in the late 70s. Our motivation was to frankly fuck with people. That's what we did and I always kinda thought it was ironic that yes, it was wrapped in a pretty package, but unfortunately, or unfortunately as he sold a million records, we never did an interview for a teen magazine, like "Tiger Beat" or whatever, but we were the darlings of MTV for a year which killed the chance for us to have any credibility. I went to one of Henry Rollins' from Black Flag shows in Hollywood years ago and it was right of the height of our success. He didn't know I was there and my dad's tour manager from back in the day wound up managing the Dead Kennedy's, but was dong sound for Henry that night and I hung out in the audience that night and Henry dissed my band. He was talking crap about it. I went backstage with my friend and he saw me and said, "What are you doing here?" I said, "Henry, to be honest with you I've been a fan of yours for a long time." He said, "No, seriously..." I said, "I loved your Black Flag days, I read your books, and I think we have a lot more in common than you think." He laughed in my face and said, "How the hell do you figure that?" I said, "Okay. Whoa. How's this? People see you coming out with tattoos all over your neck, you clearly lift weights, they are scared to death and probably cross the street when you're cong towards them because they figure you're an homicidal maniac and you're gonna have nothing worth saying. Now clearly that's the opposite of the truth. You see a picture of me on the cover of 'Tiger Beat' and say that's all that guy has to say. Frankly, I had nothing to do with that, the photographer sold all those pictures and if you look at those articles they are all quotes from 'Rolling Stone' or whatever, they just put in there." He said, "That's interesting." I said, "Yeah. Basically, people make a judgment on what they see usually. On anything." He said, "Huh. I never thought about it that way, what do you do wanna do about it?" "At some point we are gonna work together." He said, "Okay." Six months later I called him and he did some spoken word on an album that unfortunately our label never let us release it because we didn't have a contract with it but the victory is I became friends with Henry Rollins which was more of an odd for but it was the same kinda spirit as I like to write a hit song, don't get me wrong, that's my goal. I'm a Paul McCartney fan and I'm unashamed of it. I go to write the best song that's ever been written, but at the same time I wanna take people someplace and make them feel special. If I piss them off to do it, if I make them feel uncomfortable, which is ironic to say now, years later it's not like Nelson wasn't big rebel band. It's not like we made a big splash like Nirvana did with "Smells Like Teen Spirit," but that was basically straight up punk in a sweater. They were there at the right time. I hate to say it, but it wasn't like happened organically, that was also engineered. It was the same thing that happened to the death of disco, bloated bands got too needy and expensive. I see it for what it is and I've been in the business a long time and I realize what it really comes down to it is all the music industry bullshit has eaten itself in the last 30 years.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Fuck, Matthew, that was the longest answer I ever received here on the Phile. Congrats! So, do you still like playing live?<br /><br /><b>Matthew:</b> It all comes back to guys like us who play music because we generally love it and go to there and play because thank God we play because that's where the money is now. Well, they ripped us off for years and nobody got paid except for them. They all have wineries and stuff like that. We stlll do it because we love it. It still means something to us.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> What was it like recording "After the Rain"" was that a good experience?<br /><br /><b>Matthew:</b> What I love about this album in particular is all the things I had to go through for this album to come out, all the stories behind every single song on that record, the fact that we were dropped for a couple of days because there was a bad start with some big name producers, we had to go back to the guy we did demos with, and produce it ourselves. I'm a little bit pissed that we didn't get credit for being the writers that we are, and we played the instruments and all that, because it was so easy to say, "Oh. That was completely fabricated." It couldn't be further from the truth. But at the end of the day, as a long as a kid goes out there, or an adult, puts this album on they say wow, that's fresh, it has a different thing. It stood out then and I think it still stands out now.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Okay, so, in the middle of your career grunge came along and took over hair metal... as you pretty much said. How did you see all that happen first hand?<br /><br /><b>Matthew:</b> First hand? We were living in that building there on Sunset Blvd. that David Geffen owned, and of courser he's a billionaire, a multi-ego mogul that was one of the six guys that ran Hollywood. I tell you what happened, nobody has heard this before, but it's the truth... our second song was "After the Rain" I think arguably was a better single. We made a video for it, Gunnar and I wanted to make a message. This kid gets pulled into a poster and goes into some fantasy world because he was getting beaten on by his dad. Anyway, the music is an escape, we all heard the story before, but to us we live and meant it. Anyway, we made this great video when people were making videos, and we knew we had to spend all this money out of our pocket. The recoupment fund, which means we weren't gonna get paid. We wanted to make art, so it was a two day shoot, they submitted the video and our manager calls us up and says, "They laughed at the video. They won't play it." I said, "You've go to be kidding." He said, "No. They said they refuse to play the video unless you cut all that stuff out at the beginning that deals with the kid having a tough time at home, or whatever. They just want the performance footage." Gunnar and I said, "We can't do it." He said, "They just don't like the spiritual stuff in it. It has nothing to do with the emotions." I said, "Fuck them." He said, "Listen, they refuse to add the song to the playlist." We were like the most requested band, it was like Bieber not getting played right now. He said, "They're just refusing, There's a guy named Abbey Konowitch who hates you guys and wants to stick to you." I said, " I don't know why, I don't know the guy. Okay. How's this? Just get him to do one spin a day at two o'clock in the morning?" He said, "Nope, they're not gonna do it." I said, "We'll see what happens." For two weeks we are the number one requested video on their call-in show "Dial MTV," so the kids are speaking. At that point they are still not adding the video... not at all. So, it's clearly a case of bias and politics which made me do something. When we signed with David Geffen he literally sat down next to me and asked, "How's your mother?" He knew my parents. I never saw him for two years after we made the album. He said, "If you need anything I'm upstairs." I figured I'm green, I knock on the door, I go upstairs and ask his secretary if I could see David. David comes out, he's looking pissed, and he says, "Come over here. What's going on?" I tell him the whole story and he says, "Listen, you can't just come to me if you have a problem like this. I'm a busy man." "I know, David, I know. Sorry." He said, "I'm gonna show you how Hollywood works. I'm gonna do this, and if you tell anybody I'm gonna deny it ever happened. Sit down and shut up." He picks up his phone and dials this number and says, "Hey, it's Dave... how's the wife? Blah, blah, blah. Yeah, thank you very much, Nelson's doing really well. I appreciate that. Listen, I've got to talk to you, I've got to talk to you. 'People' magazine came out with the top ten most important people in Hollywood and Abbey Konowitch is there right there right now, and frankly to created a monster with that guy. I'm going to hold you responsible, because frankly he bothers me. Frankly who are we to say what the kids wanna hear? Oh, okay, sure, say hi to the wife. Bye." The phone call lasted forty seconds, he hung up the phone and said, "Don't bother with me on this again. Tell your brother I said hi." The next day Gunnar and I were playing something called the Rock &amp; Jock softball game... we are at USC playing baseball, and I'm on the field and I be forgotten about this whole thing. It is what it is. I see this spec running at me from the centerfield wall and I didn't see until he was right in front of me it was Abbey Konowitch. He grabs my hand, starts pumping got up and down fiercely saying, "I'm so so sorry. I'm so sorry." He looked terrified, he looked like somebody's been chasing him. He said, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. Whatever you need... are you good, are we friends?" Our video went into heavy rotation that day. I don't know what kinda shit rolled down hill on that guys head but I saw one instance how this shit works. It kinda blew my mind. As such as I grew up thinking it's all about the best song wins, there's a lot more to it, my friend. I fucking know it was engineered.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Holy shit. What a story. What are you guys doing now? Are you going out on tour?<br /><br /><b>Matthew:</b> Here's what we are doing. Nelson has decided to dust everything off and kinda reemerge. We have a new powerhouse agency called AGI that's gonna put us on a big tour this year. I hate to say it but we are now classic rockers and we are pretty good age to go out there and we haven't been over saturated. If they package us up with these super bands from that era... I can see us going out with Journey or whoever. All those guys are friends of ours, they all know us and we have worked with them. We'll see what happens with them. Fingers crossed in the meantime Gunnar and I are gonna act as if it's not gonna happen and we are gonna what we did the first time, build our own little world around us. It's a little different, we have social media which I hate to say it we are late to the party but it is what it is and that's gonna happen so this year is gonna be the year of Nelson. I think this reissue of "After the Rain" on vinyl is kicking the year off, making it official we're back. We put it away, we were doing other stuff and our manager kinda convinced us there are a lot of people that bought our albums and love us. So, we are doing that and Gunnar and I have some other projects that we call high integrity fun shows. We do a retrospective of our dads life in music called Ricky Nelson Remembered. We play that a lot. That's completely different music... it's root rock and rockabilly. Then we put together a Christmas show which is a completely different show. We made a Christmas album which if you can imagine sounds like Nelson and Crosby, Stills and Nash doing Christmas standards. It's kinda fun. We wanted to do it at a certain time of year, it's an evergreen thing. We close up shop, go on the road and sing Christmas songs. Fortunately we had a couple of years with hits with a new song on that album. Gunnar's got his Scrap Metal thing which is kinda a goof of all those lead singers from the 80s heavy rock bands in one band. I've got a couple things in the works just for my own self that I'm not talking about yet.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Okay, so, do I remember that you dated Bobbie Brown who was the hot chick in Warrant's "Cherry Pie" video? She wrote a book that came out a few years ago and I tried to get her on the Phile.<br /><br /><b>Matthew:</b> I was the first guy in Hollywood to date her and all I can say I was there first. I'm in her book and all I can say is the truth is when I read it the difference between the two of us is I wasn't fucked up. I didn't do drugs. I remember everything as it really happened. For her unfortunately, her life for many years has been a blur of drugs and dick. Let's just say this, what she wrote about me and especially what she wore about Gunnar was a complete fabrication. She was not a faithful person to me. I treated her like gold. It didn't work out and I had an immense amount of class and unfortunately she did not. All I can say is time has not been kind to that woman.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> Matthew, thanks so much for being here on the Phile. I wish you the best.<br /><br /><b>Matthew: </b>Thank you. What is really cool too is I honestly feel back in those times when we toured with Cinderalla and Lynch Mob we were in the middle of that package and it was like one of those things is not like the other, even though I love both those bands. George Lynch had a thing on his solo album after he saw us and he became a good friend. One of the best shows I ever saw was with Bon Jovi and Cinderalla at the Philly Center in '86. It was awesome. At the same time I think something comes around 30 years later. And still being able to sing, thank God, because some of our friends have vocal problems. Maybe now is the time where people actually listen to the music and really get into it. All that other stuff is done. None of us is hard rock anymore. When you strip away all that stuff our job was to make really good music and I think and we do.<br /><br /><b>Me:</b> So, do you think back in the day guys, and maybe girls, were kinda embarrassed to say they were fans of yours? I'm sure some macho fuckers liked your music but didn't want to admit it.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>Matthew:</b> Whether you love us or hate us, the truth is we were around a lot and I'm sure you heard our songs enough. The way I see it is if you hear a piece of music four times it becomes a part of your lexicon, a part of your life. It's like when I went backstage to the Def Leppard/Tesla show, we are friends with those guys. When Nelson hit, none of those guys would take us out on the road because they thought whatever they thought we were. Now they are all super good buddies. The guitarist from Tesla even stays with us when he's in town. Bon Jovi's new guitar player, Phil X, is one of my dear friends. I play bass in the band that plays the American Music Awards and Billboard Awards for fourteen years and X has been with me for that long.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>So, what's the oddest thing you did in your career, Matthew?<br /><br /><b>Matthew: </b>That's easy. I sang background vocals on the first two Steel Panther records. Listen to "Fat Girl" on the first record and you'll say that is Matt Nelson singing the high stuff.<br /><br /><b>Me: </b>Haha. I don't know that band or that song but will check it out. Matthew, thanks so much for being here on the Phile. Tell Gunnar he needs to come and be interviewed as well. Plug your website and I hope to see you on the road next year. Take care.<br /><br /><b>Matthew:</b> Thanks, Jason. This was fun, and your dad rocked!!! <a href="http://matthewandgunnarnelson.com/">matthewandgunnarnelson.com/</a>.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mI_oKiOne_I/Wk64fvbak2I/AAAAAAAAxNY/TuirjtSsW3wyqIRd6UXaxuprooTC93CuQCLcBGAs/s1600/51fDKwLZm-L._SX425_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="425" height="317" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mI_oKiOne_I/Wk64fvbak2I/AAAAAAAAxNY/TuirjtSsW3wyqIRd6UXaxuprooTC93CuQCLcBGAs/s320/51fDKwLZm-L._SX425_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />That about does it for the first entry of the year. Thanks to my gists Jeff Trelewicz and of course Matthew Nelson. The Phile will be back on Monday with... are you ready for this? The Peverett Phile 12th Anniversary Special Pheaturing Noel Gallagher From Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. He was also in a small band called Oasis in the 90s. You might've heard of them. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8ihVhnGn6jo/Wk66A30CHmI/AAAAAAAAxNc/chayqR8WiboPJ73sYrwpjCzcsDbe5kBWwCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_83a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="496" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8ihVhnGn6jo/Wk66A30CHmI/AAAAAAAAxNc/chayqR8WiboPJ73sYrwpjCzcsDbe5kBWwCLcBGAs/s400/fullsizeoutput_83a.jpeg" width="293" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker</i>Peverett Philehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02431316036900091369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491316185485008748.post-49956501263034146652017-12-28T18:18:00.000-05:002017-12-28T18:18:00.674-05:00Pheaturing Neil Hannon From The Divine Comedy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TDBGbKQI1EY/WkVYFUPgnxI/AAAAAAAAxGw/-I-ni777A4MBISYd8gTjAJuChjLrIoN6gCLcBGAs/s1600/jplogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TDBGbKQI1EY/WkVYFUPgnxI/AAAAAAAAxGw/-I-ni777A4MBISYd8gTjAJuChjLrIoN6gCLcBGAs/s400/jplogo.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><b>Hello</b>, and welcome the last Phile entry of 2017, people! The ending of a year prompts reflection about all the good and the bad that has happened in the past 12 months. As 2016 wound down and 2017 approached, people were feeling optimistic because 2016 had been less than fun. Remember all the celebrity deaths? Goodness gracious, 2016 was a rough time. In many ways, 2017 has been even uglier, with celebrities trending not because they had died but because of revelations about sexual assault. This year has been the evil step-mother to 2016's evil step-sister. I mean, if we're honest, 2017 has just been the second semester of 2016.<br /><b>We </b>have almost zero context or information about how or why this new phenomenon is overtaking Twitter. But, someone tweeted this...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mlbKDJrLWG8/WkVaE7VqnKI/AAAAAAAAxG8/ohH_JW_9EZQNAvIMMLMBT1TS74Ii6nj_gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-12-28%2Bat%2B3.54.24%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="498" height="337" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mlbKDJrLWG8/WkVaE7VqnKI/AAAAAAAAxG8/ohH_JW_9EZQNAvIMMLMBT1TS74Ii6nj_gCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-12-28%2Bat%2B3.54.24%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />And apparently museums aren't just a place to soak in ancient knowledge. They're also factories run by the CIA, using state-of-the art technology to record the features of every person in the world. These "museums" then pump out an exact replica of exactly every face on the planet so they have a record of each person to walk the Earth. Why? No one knows. But it's clear that they then disguise these records as "portraits" from hundreds of years ago. So you don't get suspicious. Alternatively, a lot of people were inspired by the above tweet by Deenerys... which went mega-viral over the holidays... and responded with their own portrait clone-faces, which are completely coincidental and testament to the fact that the gene pool's a lot shallower than we like to think. Much, much shallower. It's safe to say with absolutely no hyperbole that this is the freakiest thing to ever happen on the Internet. Let the hunt for your own face begin.<br /><b>As</b> the rest of the world tries to catch up on the life and backstory of the newest cast member of the English royal family, a new player has risen to the top of the drama watch: Samantha Grant, aka Samantha Markle, Meghan Markle's half-sister. (Samantha now goes by Markle in her Twitter bio, but she's Samantha Grant in her handle, @SamanthaMGrant. Some reporters find that strange. We'll just call her Samantha.) It's currently unknown whether Samantha is invited to her half-sister's wedding to Prince Harry, a question that becomes more and more interesting every time her salty comments make the news. This time, she delighted royal drama-watchers by taking to Twitter after Prince Harry's odd remark that his own family is "the family I suppose [Meghan Markle's] never had." And of course Samantha had something to say about it...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gcPoroC5oTk/WkVbp8oBvLI/AAAAAAAAxHI/WtG8S72rfFMWruViJ_9FPkxWmZwk2kd3QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-12-28%2Bat%2B4.01.05%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="497" height="157" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gcPoroC5oTk/WkVbp8oBvLI/AAAAAAAAxHI/WtG8S72rfFMWruViJ_9FPkxWmZwk2kd3QCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-12-28%2Bat%2B4.01.05%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Including a promotion for her new tell-all. Samantha's book will be titled "The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister." Additional information for your consideration are the reports from April that Samantha was "reportedly planning to star in a reality show to expose their ongoing family dramas." And the reports from British tabloid "The Sun" that she once called her half-sister a "shallow social climber" with a "soft spot for gingers." And the info from the Daily Beast that she's also "alleged that Meghan stopped speaking to her after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2008." Excited for the wedding yet? Apologies for this next line, but it has to be written or else the British tabloids will put a curse on my family for not paying them homage with a corny subheader... Meghan may be the princess, but Samantha's the drama queen! Nice. Everyone's really rooting for the reality show rumors to become reality, right? <br /><b>Who</b> didn't see this one coming? The new Donald Trump animatronic has only been on display for a week in the Hall of Presidents attraction at Disney World, but according to Theme Park University, a fight already has broken out over the robo-president. Wow, that took 6 days longer than I thought it would. In this video uploaded to YouTube on December 27th, you can hear an audience member chant "lock him up!" during Trump's speech. Other audience members start arguing with the protester, one even pointing out that this particular Trump is not even real, and things escalate from there. The Disney Cast Member in the theater tries to step in, but is drowned out by the yelling. It's all... really dumb. Happiest place on Earth, right? The video cuts out just as the arguing gets intense, so we do not know if this fight ever came to blows, but it certainly sounds hostile in there. It is unclear what the protester hoped to accomplish by demanding an animatronic be locked up... especially because we can only assume he knew he would be seeing an avatar of the president when he willingly walked into something called The Hall of <i>Presidents</i>. Hopefully all parties were able to cool off, grab a delicious, non-partisan Mickey Mouse pretzel, and set aside their differences by riding the much less-controversial Space Mountain or something.<br /><b>In</b> the latest installment of aging rockers voicing the ideological equivalent of "get off my lawn," U2's baby boy frontman Bono told "Rolling Stone" he thinks music has gotten too girly. I can only assume this statement was followed up by a later edited tirade about the dangers of transmitting cooties through extended conversations with women. In the newest, and certainly not the first "Rolling Stone" cover story featuring Bono, the 57-year-old singer told alleged sexual predator Jann Wenner that the music world has been wrongfully softened and tarnished by the increasing presence of female musicians. "I think music has gotten very girly. And there are some good things about that, but hip-hop is the only place for young male anger at the moment... and that’s not good." His commentary is fun because it not only expresses a distaste for feminine artistic influence, but also includes some casually coded racism in the assertion that hip-hop,